Jeffrey Forbes
Founding Partner and Chairman
Jeff is the Founding Partner and Chairman of FTP, and a principal architect of modern Democratic strategy who has spent 25 years shaping federal policy and advising presidents, Senate leaders, and major campaigns.
Jeff Forbes is the founding partner and chairman of FTP. A 20-year veteran of political campaigns at every level, Jeff began his involvement in politics more than 25 years ago on then-Senator Al Gore’s 1988 Presidential bid. Since that time, he has worked with and coordinated numerous campaigns, ranging from municipal candidates to the U.S. Congress, as well as the White House.
Prior to founding Forbes Tate Partners (FTP), Jeff was a founding partner at Forbes Tate’s predecessor, Cauthen Forbes & Williams. He served as the Democratic staff director for the US Senate Committee on Finance in 2003. Before assuming this role at the Committee, he served as chief of staff to former Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) from 1999-2002. Beyond his knowledge of the intricacies of tax and trade, Jeff is a veteran strategist for the Democratic National Committee. From 1993-1995 he served as Midwest political director. Jeff later served the national committee as chief of strategy in 1999.
A stalwart of the Clinton-Gore administration, Jeff was the New Hampshire field director for then-Governor Clinton’s 1992 Presidential campaign. In President Clinton’s 1996 re-election bid, he was deputy political director and director of delegate selection. Following the campaign, Jeff went on to serve as a special assistant to the President and staff director for legislative affairs in 1997. From 1998-99, he served as the deputy assistant to President Clinton and was the deputy director of scheduling at the White House. He also served as senior advisor to the Obama for President Campaign in New Hampshire in the 2008 presidential election. Jeff was a member of the Democratic National Committee’s special Democratic Change Commission to improve the presidential delegate selection process and has been a member of the DNC since 2009.
Jeff was born in Cleveland, Ohio and raised in Northfield, Minnesota. He earned a B.A. in Political Science with an Economics minor from Denison University in Granville, Ohio, in 1987. Jeff and his wife live in Chevy Chase, Maryland with their three sons.
