Martin R. Wilson
Vice President, Public Affairs
Martin R. Wilson joined the CalChamber as vice president of public affairs in October 2011.
Wilson oversees all the CalChamber’s public affairs activities, including the Public Affairs Council, a political advisory committee made up of the CalChamber’s major members; its candidate recruitment and support program; and its political action committees: ChamberPAC, which supports pro-jobs candidates and legislators, and CalBusPAC, which qualifies, supports and/or opposes ballot initiatives. He also serves as the CalChamber liaison to JobsPAC, an employer-based committee that supports pro-jobs candidates.
Wilson has more than 35 years of experience in California politics, playing leadership roles in the election and re-election of two governors and a U.S. senator. He also has orchestrated numerous successful ballot measure campaigns. Most recently, Wilson managed Carly Fiorina’s come-from-behind U.S. Senate primary election victory in 2010.
In addition to his campaign experience, Wilson has served in government as a senior staff member at the local, state and federal levels.
Before joining the CalChamber, Wilson spent the last seven years as managing partner of Wilson-Miller Communications, where he also advised Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as head of the Governor’s political and initiative committee, the California Recovery Team.
Before founding his own firm, Wilson was managing director for Public Strategies Inc. in Sacramento for five years and held a similar position with Burson-Marsteller for six years.
Wilson has served as senior fellow for the University of California, Los Angeles School of Public Affairs, board member for the California State Fair and director of the Coro Foundation, a public affairs training organization. He is on the advisory board for the Scripps Institute of Oceanography.
He graduated from San Diego State University in 1977 with a B.A. in history.
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