Sarah Longwell

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Sarah Longwell is a Republican political strategist and publisher of the conservative news and opinion website The Bulwark. She is the founder of Republican Voters Against Trump (now the Republican Accountability Project), which spent millions of dollars to defeat President Trump in 2020.[1][2][3] According to The New Yorker, Longwell has "dedicated her career to fighting Trump’s takeover of her party."[4]

Early life and education[]

Longwell grew up in a Republican town in central Pennsylvania.[5] She is a 2002 graduate of Kenyon College, where she studied political science.[6][7]

Career[]

After graduation from Kenyon College in 2002, Longwell worked for the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, a conservative group in Delaware.

In 2005, Longwell moved to Washington, D.C., where she found a job with Richard Berman, a Republican lobbyist and later PR expert. Over the 15 years worked at Berman and Company, she became senior vice president and communications director, leading media campaigns on a wide range of public-policy issues.[8][9] Longwell also served as managing director of the American Beverage Institute, a trade association committed to the responsible serving of adult beverages.[10][11] According to Berman, "Sarah always had a knife in her teeth."[12]

Longwell also became the first female national board chair of the Log Cabin Republicans.[13][14][15][16] Longwell was instrumental in persuading the Log Cabin Republicans to refrain from endorsing then-candidate Donald Trump in 2016.[5] In 2019, the Log Cabin Republicans endorsed President Trump for re-election and Longwell resigned as board chair.[5]

That same year, Longwell left Berman and Company to start her own communications firm, Longwell Partners, headquartered in Washington, D.C.[17] She also became publisher of The Bulwark, a conservative website that opposes President Trump’s agenda, bringing together a moderate coalition of traditional conservatives and libertarians.[18]

Longwell is a prominent voice in the Never Trump movement.[19] She was instrumental in founding Defending Democracy Together, an umbrella organization for Republican Voters Against Trump, Republicans for the Rule of Law, and other anti-Trump projects.[20][21] Longwell advocated for the impeachment and removal of President Trump in 2019, and for his impeachment and conviction in 2021.[22]

Defending Democracy Together[]

In 2017, Longwell was invited to participate in a session of the "Meeting of the Concerned," a quasi-secret group of Republicans who were unhappy with the direction their party had taken, where she met Bill Kristol. After the firing of FBI Director James Comey, which triggered the Mueller investigation, Kristol and Longwell formed Republicans for the Rule of Law. In 2018, she launched a nonprofit organization in response to President Donald Trump's attacks on Robert Mueller. The group, Defending Democracy Together, was the umbrella organization for Rule of Law.[5]

During the 2020 election, Defending Democracy Together also served as the umbrella organization for Republican Voters Against Trump, which collected testimonials from former Trump supporters and other Republicans who opposed the Trump presidency.[23] The group spent more than $35 million to oppose President Trump, promoting those testimonials via social media advertising, billboard campaigns, and other tactics in key battleground states.[24][25][26] In Longwell’s words: “People want to be counted, people want to be on the record saying they, in this moment, stood up against Trump.”[27]

After Trump's defeat in the 2020 election, Republican Voters Against Trump rebranded itself as the Republican Accountability Project, targeting Republicans who spread falsehoods about the integrity of the election.[28] In January 2021, the group launched a $1 million billboard campaign, calling on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and others to resign for continuing to support Trump in the lead-up to the January 6th Capitol riots.[29] As Longwell put it, “The goal is to not allow these officials to memory-hole the fact that they pushed this lie, which incited the attack on the Capitol.”[30]

The Bulwark[]

In 2018, Longwell launched The Bulwark, a right-leaning news and opinion website, with the help of Kristol and conservative radio host Charlie Sykes. Initially launching as a news aggregator with anti-Trump content, the website revamped into a news and opinion destination, using digital staffers from the now-defunct The Weekly Standard.[31][32] By 2019, The Bulwark had raised about $1 million to establish a "rational, non-Trumpist forum."[33]

As publisher of The Bulwark, Longwell often guest-writes columns for the website, analyzing political news of the day and pushing back against the pro-Trump movement. In February 2021, she lamented the role of certain Republicans in the Capitol riots, urging Americans to "never forget who the enemies of democracy were."[34] Longwell supports "principled conservatism," claiming "hope is not lost, people are mostly good (regardless of who they vote for), and that America is going to be okay."[35][36]

Longwell also co-hosts The Secret Podcast with Jonathan V. Last and The Next Level Podcast with Last and Tim Miller.[37][38][39]

Personal life[]

Longwell is lesbian; she married in 2013.[40][41][5] In 2016, Longwell and her wife had their first child.[5]

References[]

  1. ^ Brownstein, Ronald. "Trump and the GOP's Dark ...." The Atlantic. 27 August 2020. 27 August 2020.
  2. ^ Greenwood, Max (2021-01-12). "Former officials, anti-Trump activists pledge $50M for Republicans who support impeachment". TheHill. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  3. ^ Michael Warren. "New GOP group launches $10 million campaign to get Republicans to vote for Biden over Trump". CNN. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  4. ^ Glasser, Susan B. (20 March 2020). "The Trials of a Never Trump Republican". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Glasser, Susan B. (20 March 2020). "The Trials of a Never Trump Republican". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2020-05-24.
  6. ^ "Republican Values".
  7. ^ "Republican Values - Kenyon Alumni Magazine". bulletin.kenyon.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-03.
  8. ^ "Sarah Longwell". theaapc.org. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
  9. ^ "Republican Values - Kenyon Alumni Magazine". bulletin.kenyon.edu. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
  10. ^ Longwell, Sarah. "Sarah Longwell: One drink and you're drunk in Utah ... and maybe in a state near you soon". Tulsa World. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
  11. ^ Romboy, Dennis (2017-07-12). "National beverage group likens Utah's .05 DUI law to 'driving while old'". Deseret News. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
  12. ^ Glasser, Susan B. (20 March 2020). "The Trials of a Never Trump Republican". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2021-03-11.
  13. ^ "For Gay Conservatives, the Trump Era is the Best and Worst of Times". New York Times. 11 January 2019.
  14. ^ Rubin, Jennifer (22 August 2019). "Not all Republicans have lost their souls". Washington Post.
  15. ^ Rubin, Jennifer (11 April 2018). "Just in time: A new Republican group seeks to protect Mueller". Washington Post.
  16. ^ "Republican and Lesbian, and Fighting for Acceptance of Both Identities". New York Times. 25 November 2012.
  17. ^ Meyer, Theodoric. "'Apostate Republican' starts a communications shop". POLITICO. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
  18. ^ "The Bulwark Was Founded to Oppose Trump. Now What? | Washingtonian (DC)". Washingtonian. 2021-03-03. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
  19. ^ Rubin, Jennifer. "Opinion | Not all Republicans have lost their souls". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
  20. ^ Nakamura, David. "Anti-Trump conservatives rally to back Vanita Gupta, Biden's pick for key Justice Dept. post". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
  21. ^ Michael Warren. "New GOP group launches $10 million campaign to get Republicans to vote for Biden over Trump". CNN. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
  22. ^ A 501tax-exempt, The Center for Responsive Politics; NW, charitable organization 1300 L. St; Washington, Suite 200; info, DC 20005 telelphone857-0044 (2021-01-15). "Never-Trump 'dark money' group to spend millions backing Republicans who impeached Trump". OpenSecrets News. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
  23. ^ "Never-Trump group is 2020's top 'dark money' spender so far". OpenSecrets News. Center for Responsive Politics. 2020-10-07. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  24. ^ "Defending Democracy Together Outside Spending | OpenSecrets". www.opensecrets.org. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  25. ^ "Republican Voters Against Trump Outside Spending | OpenSecrets". www.opensecrets.org. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  26. ^ Niedzwiadek, Nick. "Anti-Trump group pledges $50 million effort to defend Republican impeachment supporters". POLITICO. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  27. ^ Karni, Annie (2020-10-12). "The Crowded, Competitive World of Anti-Trump G.O.P. Groups". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  28. ^ Papenfuss, Mary (2021-02-20). "Anti-Trump Group Launches $1 Million In Ads Hailing Republicans Who Voted To Impeach". HuffPost. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  29. ^ Greenwood, Max (2021-01-29). "GOP group launches billboard campaign urging Cruz, Hawley to resign". TheHill. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  30. ^ Barrón-López, Laura. "Anti-Trump group launches $1M billboard campaign calling on Cruz, Hawley, McCarthy to resign". POLITICO. Retrieved 2021-03-22.
  31. ^ Oliver Darcy (2019-01-04). "Former Weekly Standard staffers find new home at The Bulwark, a conservative site unafraid to take on Trump". CNN. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
  32. ^ Taibbi, Matt (2019-01-14). "Return of the Neocons!". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
  33. ^ WRAL (2019-01-04). "Former Weekly Standard staffers find new home at The Bulwark, a conservative site unafraid to take on Trump". WRAL.com. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
  34. ^ "Hold Them All Accountable". The Bulwark. 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  35. ^ "Hope Dies Last". The Bulwark. 2020-11-03. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  36. ^ Coppins, McKay (2019-02-22). "Naming and Shaming the Pro-Trump Elite". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  37. ^ Bulwark, The. "Sarah Longwell and Tim Miller on if Principled Conservatism Has a Future". The Bulwark Podcast. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
  38. ^ Last, Jonathan V. "There Is No Going Back". thesecretpodcast.thebulwark.com. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  39. ^ Last, Jonathan V. "About Gun Violence". thenextlevel.thebulwark.com. Retrieved 2021-03-29.
  40. ^ Williams, Tucky (May 9, 2016). "An interview with lesbian feminist Republican Sarah Longwell - AfterEllen". AfterEllen. Lesbian Nation. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  41. ^ Wheaton, Sarah (November 25, 2012). "Republican and Lesbian, and Fighting for Acceptance of Both Identities". The New York Times. Retrieved December 23, 2019.

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