IGS National Advisory Council

DAN SCHNUR

Dan Schnur is one of California’s leading Republican political and media strategists, whose record includes work on four presidential and three gubernatorial campaigns, as well as extensive experience on behalf of a variety of ballot initiatives and policy reform efforts.

Mr. Schnur served as the national Director of Communications for the 2000 presidential campaign of U.S. Senator John McCain. In addition, he has advised a large number of Republican candidates and causes throughout his career, including five years as chief media spokesman for California Governor Pete Wilson.

Mr. Schnur began his political career in the press office of the Reagan-Bush ’84 presidential campaign. He later served as a spokesman for the Bush-Quayle ’88 presidential campaign, and worked in the press offices of the Republican National Committee before moving to California in 1990 to take on the position of Communications Director of the state Republican Party. Following Wilson’s election as Governor that year, Mr. Schnur joined the Administration and subsequently served Wilson as both Press Secretary and Communications Director. In 1994, he served as Press Secretary to Wilson’s successful gubernatorial re-election campaign.

Mr. Schnur is currently a Visiting Instructor at the University of California at Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School of Communication, where he teaches courses in politics and communications. Mr. Schnur has also held the post of Visiting Lecturer at the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California, as well as a Visiting Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government’s Institute of Politics at Harvard University. In addition, he also taught an advanced course in political campaign communications at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political Management via the Internet. Mr. Schnur also served as an advisor to the Center for Campaign Leadership, a non-partisan effort to equip young people with the skills essential for professional involvement in political campaigns.

Mr. Schnur writes regularly for several of California newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Sacramento Bee. In addition, he acts as an analyst and political commentator for CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News. As founding principal of COMMANDFOCUS, a Sacramento-based public affairs, communications and campaign management firm, Mr. Schnur utilized his experience to advise a variety of non-profit organizations, political causes and private sector clients. Mr. Schnur is now an executive vice president and director at the public relations firm Edelman, leading its California Public Affairs practice and contributing to a number of multinational clients. (More information about Mr. Schnur's role at Edelman is available here.)

Mr. Schnur is a graduate of the American University in Washington, D.C.