WEITZNER
Larry
Chief Executive Officer of Jamestown Associates
Organization: Jamestown Associates
Profession: Chief Executive Officer
Biography
Larry Weitzner is the CEO of Jamestown Associates, one of the nation’s premier political consulting firms specializing in television advertising, campaign strategy, direct mail, and issue communications. Jamestown’s team consists of award-winning editors, designers, and top-tier political strategists from across the country.
Career
Larry was the lead ad maker for the Donald J. Trump for President campaign in both 2016 and 2020. The ads produced by Jamestown helped Donald Trump achieve a historic upset in 2016, and a two-minute ad by Jamestown called “Argument for America” received over 8 million views on YouTube – more than any other ad produced by either President Trump or Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Time Magazine ranked two of Jamestown’s ads among “the most notable” of 2016. In 2020, Larry produced the Trump campaign ad “Gratitude,” which was the first-ever presidential campaign ad to air nationwide during the Super Bowl. “Gratitude” highlighted President Trump’s historic criminal justice reform and was named the most digitally buzzworthy ad of Super Bowl LIV by Salesforce.
Larry also produced ads in some of the most closely watched races of the 2020 cycle, including for Congressman Jeff Van Drew. Van Drew became a household name when he switched from the Democratic to the Republican Party in 2019, and while candidates who change parties often struggle to win reelection, the ad campaign that Larry produced helped Van Drew secure a hard-fought victory. Larry also produced ads for Governor Chris Sununu, who was reelected to a third term with the biggest margin in over a decade.
In 2018, Larry produced the TV ads for Republican Governor Charlie Baker’s reelection campaign in the deep blue state of Massachusetts, which saw Governor Baker win reelection with over 65% of the vote – the highest percentage for a candidate for Governor of Massachusetts since 1994. In 2014, Baker was first elected with Larry’s help, including an ad that was dubbed the first-ever “selfie” ad.
Charlie Baker’s 2018 reelection, along with the reelection of Jamestown client Chris Sununu in 2020 marked a new milestone for Larry: having produced ads for Governors George Pataki, Jodi Rell, Chris Christie, Sununu, and Baker, Larry has helped elect more Republican Governors in the Northeast than any other media consultant in the past 30 years.
Jamestown’s ads have been featured on Meet the Press, ABC, NBC, and CBS Nightly News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, and Hannity, as well as in Campaigns and Elections, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, among many other news and political publications around the country.
Education and personal life
Larry has a bachelor’s degree from Lehigh University and a law degree from Seton Hall University, and in the political off-season, he produces independent films. He and his wife Jackie have two children.