Patrick Guerriero

Patrick Guerriero

Patrick Guerriero, a former Massachusetts state legislator, mayor and advocate for equality, is a founding partner of Civitas Public Affairs Group, a Washington, D.C.-based government affairs firm. Working on the local, state and federal level for two decades, Guerriero has advised and counseled many of the nation's leading Democratic and Republican elected officials and political donors on a wide range of issues. Civitas Public Affairs Group, with offices in Washington, D.C. and Boston, provides bipartisan government relations, issue-based donor-giving strategies, and public-policy campaign management to individuals, non-profits and corporations.

From September 1, 2006 to June 30, 2011, Guerriero served as the founding executive director of Gill Action, an issue advocacy group with offices in Washington, DC and Denver, Colorado. At Gill Action, Guerriero managed nationwide political operations and supported successful gubernatorial and legislative candidates in various states. He also advocated for passage of state laws on nondiscrimination and relationship recognition.

Guerriero entered national politics when he served as president of the Liberty Education Forum and Log Cabin Republicans from January 1, 2003 to September 1, 2006 leading both organizations through periods of unprecedented growth. From 1993-2001, Guerriero won five consecutive elections. He served three terms as a Massachusetts state representative where he served on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and never missed a roll call, casting more than 1,000 consecutive votes. In 1998, Guerriero was elected mayor of the city of Melrose, Massachusetts where he served two terms, winning reelection with more than 80 percent of the vote. In 2002, after serving as then-Governor Jane M. Swift's deputy chief of staff, Guerriero became the nation's first openly gay candidate for lieutenant governor when he was chosen by Swift to be her running mate.

Guerriero is an advocate for equality, having appeared on major television programs such as Nightline, Hardball with Chris Matthews, The Today Show, and The O'Reilly Factor. He has written op-eds for publications including The Wall Street Journal and The Denver Post and has been profiled in The New York Times Magazine, The L.A. Times Magazine, The Washington Post, and The Advocate. Guerriero is the recipient of the U.S. Mayor's Association 2000 City Livability Award for his nationally recognized "Civility Initiative" and the 1998 Fenn Award for Political Leadership from the John F. Kennedy Library's New Frontier Society.