Michael Biundo

Michael Biundo
Basic facts
Organization:	RightOn Strategies
Role:	Co-founder
Location:	Manchester, N.H.
Affiliation:	Republican
Website:	Official website
Prior Experience •Pat Buchanan 1996 presidential •Frank Guinta 2010 U.S. House, 2005 and 2007 Manchester, NH mayoral •Rick Santorum 2012 presidential •Mitt Romney 2012 presidential •Rand Paul 2016 presidential •John Kasich 2016 presidential •Donald Trump 2016 presidential

Michael Biundo is the co-founder of RightOn Strategies in Manchester, New Hampshire, and the principal at RightVoter, a national consulting organization. After working for both Rand Paul and John Kasich during the 2016 election cycle, Biundo signed on as a senior advisor for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign in June 2016. He primarily worked with the campaign's national political director, Jim Murphy.

NH Journal writer John DiStaso called Biundo "one of the best grassroots organizers and coalitions builders in the state, if not the country."

Biundo has worked extensively with U.S. Rep. Frank Guinta (R-N.H.) since 2005, when Guinta successfully ran for mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire.

During the 2016 election cycle, Biundo advised John Kasich's presidential campaign on delegate selection for the Republican National Convention. Biundo was the chief strategist for the New England operations of RAND PAC, the political action committee for Rand Paul.

Career

Early career

Biundo began his career working on presidential campaigns in his home state of New Hampshire. Biundo worked with Pat Buchanan in New Hampshire in 1992, then managed Buchanan's successful New Hampshire primary in 1996. In 2005 and 2007, Biundo managed Frank Guinta's campaigns for Mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire. Biundo also managed Guinta's successful 2010 campaign to represent New Hampshire's 1st Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Biundo was also involved in a 2008 effort to enact a charter amendment limiting taxes in the city of Concord, New Hampshire. As president of the New Hampshire Advantage Coalition, Biundo led a campaign that would have initiated a tax cap in the city, collecting signatures in an effort to have a charter amendment on the ballot in 2008. Speaking on the amendment, Biundo said, "The citizens of Concord have a fundamental right to enact a charter amendment that limits both taxes and spending. The people are not required to pay a certain level of taxes by law, and the city is not overall required spend at a minimum level."

Rick Santorum presidential campaign, 2012

In January of 2011, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum (R), announced that Biundo would serve as the New Hampshire director for his PAC, America's Foundation. In October 2011, the Santorum campaign announced Biundo as National Campaign Manager. In April 2012, after Santorum officially ended his campaign for the nomination, Biundo joined the campaign of Mitt Romney as "deputy national director of coalitions with a mandate to help unite tea party activists, evangelicals and other conservatives."

Presidential election, 2016

Donald Trump

See also: Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016

On June 29, 2016, WMUR reported that Biundo had joined Donald Trump's presidential campaign as a senior advisor. According to the article, Biundo was hired to work "with Trump national political director Jim Murphy to build campaign teams and organize grassroots efforts in states across the country, with special emphasis on New Hampshire." Biundo told NH1, "For me, it’s all about beating Hillary Clinton. ... It’s time for the GOP to come together and get behind Donald Trump."

White House role offer

After Trump won the election, Biundo was offered a senior role in the administration. He turned down the offer, citing his business and family ties in New Hampshire.

John Kasich

See also: John Kasich presidential campaign, 2016

On March 28, 2016, The New York Times reported that Biundo had joined John Kasich's presidential campaign as an advisor for delegate selection. PJ Media reported that Biundo was tasked with targeting delegates pledged to other candidates, including Marco Rubio. The piece also said that Biundo "might be able to convince enough delegates to vote for the Ohio governor on the second round of voting, should no candidate gain a majority on the first ballot. Kasich's presidential hopes rest entirely on this scenario."

On May 4, 2016, after Donald Trump won the Indiana primary, Kasich suspended his campaign.

RAND PAC

See also: Rand Paul presidential campaign, 2016

In July 2014, Biundo and RightOn Strategies were hired by RAND PAC, the political action committee for Rand Paul. Biundo was hired as a chief strategist for New England. In the official announcement, the director of RAND PAC, Doug Stafford, praised Biundo's organizing abilities: "Mike is one of the most experienced individuals in the nation when it comes to building coalitions."

Paul suspended his presidential run on February 3, 2016.

RightOn Strategies

Along with Kory Wood and Derek Dufresne, Biundo started his own consulting firm, RightOn Strategies, in January 2013, and in August of that year, the group formed a strategic partnership with Boucher Strategies. The partnership expanded RightOn's reach into the Midwest and the South. In June 2015, Biundo and partners from Boucher Strategies came together to form a national consulting business, RightVoter. The organization's press announcement stated that the firm would consult for candidates at all levels and would "focus heavily on merging new technologies with grassroots activism to bring voter contact into the modern age of campaigning."

2016 elections

In May 2016, Biundo signed on as a general consultant for former New Hampshire State Rep. Jim Lawrence's campaign for U.S. House. Biundo told WMUR, "Jim Lawrence will run a professional campaign, building a district-wide grassroots organization to take his message directly to voters in the media, online, at town hall meetings, and in door-to-door conversations."

2018 elections

During the 2018 election cycle, Biundo signed on as a senior advisor to Mike Gibbons (R-Ohio) in the primary election to represent Ohio in the Senate. In July 2017, Biundo told the Toledo Blade, "The outpouring of support Mike has received over the past few weeks has been beyond anything we could have hoped for. It is clear that conservatives across Ohio want a strong, no nonsense voice to go to Washington and represent them, not another career politician who will do nothing to drain the D.C. swamp. Mike Gibbons is working every day to offer Ohioans solutions, not the typical beltway soundbites, and the people of Ohio are responding."

See also

• Frank Guinta
• Rand Paul presidential campaign, 2016
• Donald Trump presidential campaign, 2016

External links

• RightOn Strategies Official Site
  
• Michael Biundo Official Twitter