Philip A. McNamara was appointed in June 2009 by the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano as the Department’s Executive Secretariat. Mr. McNamara is the Executive Director of Operations and Administration for the Office of the Secretary and is responsible for all correspondence, briefing materials, and White House and Interagency Actions going in and out of the Secretary and Deputy Secretary’s offices.

Upon taking this position at the Department, he concluded an 11-year career with the Democratic National Committee (DNC), where he had served as the Director of Party Affairs and Delegate Selection since 2002. The Office of Party Affairs and Delegate Selection assists the National Party Chairman with the institutional functions of the DNC and coordinates the Party’s presidential nominating process and selection of delegates to the National Convention. Mr. McNamara was the senior advisor to five DNC Chairmen on Party rules and procedures from 1998 to 2009.

Mr. McNamara was the DNC’s lead expert in the historic 2008 presidential nominating process. He was responsible for developing the Party’s 2008 presidential nominating calendar that added Nevada and South Carolina as early states alongside Iowa and New Hampshire. He led efforts to enforce the Party’s rule on timing against the states of Florida and Michigan, and was the recognized expert on the role and history of super delegates. Ultimately, Mr. McNamara was responsible for selecting delegates from all 56 states and territories, and for facilitating relationships with all presidential campaigns.

Mr. McNamara coordinated the operations of the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Convention Committees on Credentials, Platform, and Rules. It was on this work that Mr. McNamara had the chance to work with then-Governor Janet Napolitano as she served as chair of the 2008 Platform Drafting Committee.

Mr. McNamara is a native of Massachusetts and has lived in Washington, D.C. since 1998. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts–Amherst in 1997, where he double-majored in political science and journalism.