Former White House Political Director
David M. Simas is a native of Taunton, Massachusetts. He held elected offices in Massachusetts at the local and county level before being appointed Deputy Chief of Staff to Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick in 2007. In 2009, Simas joined President Obama’s administration as a Deputy Assistant to the President, working with senior advisors David Axelrod and David Plouffe. In 2012, he served as Director of Opinion Research for President Obama's reelection campaign. Following the reelection, Simas returned to the White House as Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Political Strategy and Outreach. In 2016, Simas was named the founding CEO of the Obama Foundation where he served until 2023. He resides in his hometown of Taunton, MA with his wife and daughter.