A group of Democratic strategists who worked for some of the biggest unorthodox names in liberal politics is launching a new firm.
The consultants who helped guide Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign and the winning Senate bids for John Fetterman and Ruben Gallego are branding their new company Fight Agency.
They said they’re aiming to elect more nontraditional candidates with a populist, anti-establishment streak. They’re even open to fielding left-leaning independents who eschew the Democratic Party label altogether.
The kickoff of the company is the latest sign that Democrats are rethinking their approach to elections after President Donald Trump won for a second time with working-class voters of all stripes, once the bedrock of their party’s base. POLITICO is first to report on their announcement.
The partners of Fight Agency, which will be based in Philadelphia, include Rebecca Katz, the lead strategist for Fetterman and Gallego’s campaigns; Julian Mulvey, a key member of Sanders’ 2016 brain trust; and Tommy McDonald, an admaker for Fetterman and groups backing progressive House insurgents who successfully challenged incumbents like former Rep. Cori Bush.
Their launch is taking place as another major Democratic firm — Devine Mulvey Longabaugh, where Mulvey has been a partner for many years — closes its doors. Those consultants created Sanders’ iconic “America” ad and helped run his 2016 campaign.
The strategists behind Fight Agency declined to share the names of any potential new clients, but said they expect to work in the 2026 midterms and 2028 presidential campaign.
They have at points worked to elect more traditional candidates, including former President Joe Biden. But many of their past clients are known for their offbeat styles, willingness to speak off the cuff, and a propensity to ruffle the feathers of their own party leaders — an approach to politics the consultants plan to employ at their new venture.
“It’s okay to have a candidate that has some rough edges,” Katz said. “The era of the perfect candidate is over. We don’t need perfect hair and a perfect starch shirt with sleeves that you roll up to look hard-working.”
McDonald, who made ads for Dan Osborn, a left-leaning independent Senate candidate in Nebraska who lost but outperformed the top of the ticket in 2024, said “outsiders, working-class candidates, even a few independents — this is kind of what people want, and there should be a team that can help them.”
As Democrats grapple with how to win back blue-collar voters, Mulvey said Sanders, Fetterman and Gallego provide “clues” for their party. He said they “all have the ability to connect with working-class and independent voters” and represent “anti-establishment, economic messaging, populist messaging.”
Republicans, he said, “got to an anti-establishment, anti-elite messaging before Democrats have,” and “our side is struggling with that, and that’s part of what this firm is.”
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