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Pete McDonough is a public affairs, communications and political campaign strategist who has spent more than 25 years directing and designing memorable and effective political, issues and public relations campaigns in New Jersey, across America and in Eastern Europe.

He served as director of communications for NJ Governor Christie Whitman and as a member of her cabinet; he was twice chief of staff for a member of the US House of Representatives; assistant New Jersey state treasurer; chief of staff for the New Jersey Department of the Treasury, and executive director in the New Jersey General Assembly.

In his role as director of communications for NJ Gov. Christie Whitman, he designed and implemented all of the Governor's communications programs, oversaw all aspects of the production of the Governor's major events and the writing of all of her major addresses. He was the chief spokesman for the Governor for five years. He also supervised a variety of award-winning state advertising campaigns including the New Jersey & You tourism campaign, the New Jersey Energy Choice Campaign and groundbreaking campaign to preserve 1 million acres of open space in New Jersey.

The communications strategies developed by Mr. McDonough helped secure the national television stage for Gov. Whitman and helped her to become one of the most recognized and popular women in American politics.

As a consultant for the US State Department and private non-government organizations, Mr. McDonough has provided intensive media training and planning for heads of state, cabinet ministers and other ranking officials in Russia, the Republic of Georgia, Uzbekistan, Belarus and Kosovo.

As a consultant for the US Environmental Protection Agency, he provided risk communications and crisis communications training to the agency's senior staff and to the EPA Administrator. He designed nationwide communications campaigns to promote the enactment of several major environmental initiatives including the historic federal Brownfields Act, the national "Energy Star" program and the Superfund program.

His expertise as a media planner and spokesman, and as a specialist in crisis communications and issues management, have been utilized by Fortune 500 corporations including General Electric Co, Allstate Insurance Company, Electronic Data Systems (EDS), TXU, Progress Energy, FMC, Public Service Electric and Gas, and dozens of mid-cap and smaller companies, trade associations and labor unions.

He co-founded New Jersey's largest and most respected public affairs and lobbying firm.

Governors, members of Congress and state legislators in the United States, as well as federal legislative candidates and pro-democracy presidential candidates in Russia, Ukraine and Romania, have sought his political campaign expertise. He is a successful political campaign veteran who has directed or been a consultant to more than 60 state or federal campaigns.

Mr. McDonough is a gifted writer who has written major addresses delivered through the northeast United State and in Washington, DC. Articles written by Mr. McDonough have appeared in newspapers across the nation including the New York Times and the Washington Post.

He is a professor at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University where he teaches the graduate seminar in American Politics for masters and Ph.D. candidates.

He was elected to the Pennington Borough Council, was appointed by Gov. Thomas H. Kean to the New Jersey Building Authority, and was a representative to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and the New Jersey Pension Benefits Review Commission.

Mr. McDonough and his wife, Molly, have two children and reside in Pennington, New Jersey.