30 Facts About Mark McKinnon

Mark David McKinnon was born on May 5,1955 and is an American political advisor, reform advocate, media columnist, and television producer.

Mark McKinnon was the chief media advisor to five successful presidential primary and general election campaigns, and is a co-founder of No Labels, an organization dedicated to bipartisanship and political problem solving.

Mark McKinnon served as vice chairman of Public Strategies, Inc.

Mark McKinnon was a regular columnist for The Daily Beast and The Daily Telegraph.

Mark McKinnon has served on the boards of numerous organizations dedicated to reforming the influence of money in politics.

Mark McKinnon was on the advisory board of Americans Elect, a defunct political organization known primarily for its efforts to stage a national online primary for the 2012 United States presidential election.

Mark McKinnon currently serves on the boards of Take Back Our Republic and the Austin Film Society, and is a member of the George Foster Peabody Awards board of jurors as well as the Advisory Council of Represent.

Mark McKinnon was born in Boulder, Colorado, and was raised in Denver.

Mark McKinnon performed in a band called Daybreak and, following his junior year, dropped out of high school and hitchhiked to Nashville, Tennessee.

Mark McKinnon returned to Denver to complete high school, then made his way back to Nashville to continue pursuing music.

Mark McKinnon was named the "New Folk" winner at the 1975 Kerrville Folk Festival.

In 1976, Mark McKinnon moved to Austin, Texas, where he earned a living as a musician.

Mark McKinnon left the university before completing his undergraduate work.

In 1994, Mark McKinnon worked on Bob Bullock's re-election campaign for Lieutenant Governor of Texas.

Mark McKinnon was talking about issues that had typically been Democratic issues.

Mark McKinnon was talking about them in a really compassionate way.

Mark McKinnon worked on Bush's first presidential campaign as the chief media advisor, directing the advertising effort in 2000, a role he would reprise in the 2004 elections.

President Bush appointed Mark McKinnon to serve as a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the independent, autonomous entity responsible for all US government sponsored, non-military, international broadcasting.

Mark McKinnon began serving as the principal media advisor for Senator McCain's presidential bid for the Republican primaries in January, 2007, but decided to leave the campaign on May 21,2008.

Mark McKinnon developed the show concept, co-created, co-hosts, and serves as co-executive producer of Showtime's real-time political documentary series, The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth.

Mark McKinnon served as a consultant for the political drama television series, The Newsroom and House of Cards.

Mark McKinnon has been a regular columnist for The Daily Beast and The Daily Telegraph.

Mark McKinnon was a fellow at the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy and the Harvard Institute of Politics.

Mark McKinnon currently serves on the advisory board for the Austin Film Society.

Mark McKinnon is a co-founder of the bi-partisan organization No Labels, which advocates nonpartisan solutions to political and social problems.

Mark McKinnon co-chaired for Arts+Labs and served on the boards of the Livestrong Foundation and Change Congress, an organization dedicated to campaign finance reform.

Mark McKinnon helped lead the effort to overturn the United States' same-sex marriage ban by serving as co-chair of Southerners for the Freedom to Marry, alongside Julian Castro.

Mark McKinnon is a two-time Ironman Triathlon finisher and an avid bicyclist.

Mark McKinnon has a tattoo on his right arm of the number "40," in remembrance of the NFL football player and US soldier, Pat Tillman, who was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan.

Mark McKinnon met his wife Annie before he could drive; they now have two grown daughters.