Ed Draves

He has lobbied city and statewide elected officials on labor, health care, communications, pension, racing and budget issues and organized and coordinated grassroots campaign efforts on local, state and federal issues. Prior to joining the firm, Ed was the Political and Legislative Director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) for more than two decades. In that role, he coordinated the political action and legislative programs of the union's six New York affiliates and represented more than 325,000 members. In 2003, Ed served as Campaign Manager for the first successful statewide Transportation Bond Act in more than a dozen years and later that year became one of the campaign strategists to help elect Buffalo's first African-American Mayor, Byron Brown. Ed has worked on local and national political campaigns developing campaign strategy, messaging and themes and assisting with debate preparation as a consultant and aide in New York, New Hampshire, Michigan, Ohio, South Carolina and California. In 2000, he served as a Deputy Campaign Manager for Hillary Clinton's successful U.S. Senate bid.