The Human Rights Campaign announced that Chad Griffin, the current AFER board president and a major fundraiser for the Obama campaign, will replace current president Joe Solmonese at the helm of the $40 million HRC on June 11.
As The Advocate states:
In its pick of Griffin as president, HRC has chosen someone who was shaped from an early age by Washington political culture yet who is not defined by it, having spent the vast majority of his career outside the Beltway. Griffin, 38, is a fervent supporter of President Obama with personal ties to White House officials, but has pushed the bipartisan case for marriage equality, notably hiring former George W. Bush solicitor general Theodore Olson to co-lead the Prop. 8 suit and aligning with conservatives including gay former Republican National Committee chair Ken Mehlman, who has raised money for the legal effort. Griffin has been openly critical of the president's evolving position on marriage equality, calling Obama's indicated support for states' rights on deciding who can marry "a step backwards." And, central to the job, Griffin has a proven ability to be a formidable fundraiser.
As Solmonese writes at the HRC site:
"When I decided to begin the next chapter of my career, I could not have imagined a better successor as president of the Human Rights Campaign. Just a few minutes ago, the HRC's Board of Directors appointed Chad Griffin, a brilliant visionary and strategist, as the organization's next president. While you know him as the mastermind behind the federal lawsuit to overturn California's Proposition 8, Chad's spent his career taking on the toughest fights against entrenched, well-financed interests. He's passionate about our equality and more importantly, has a proven track record of consistently delivering results. Already, the fight to overturn Prop. 8 has prevailed in two federal court rooms."
For more on Griffin, read his bio at AFER.
