President Joe Biden on Thursday tapped Atlanta native Michael Tyler, a veteran Democratic operative, as the communications director for his reelection campaign.
The appointment makes Tyler one of the most influential national Democratic voices from Georgia, one of only a handful of competitive states on the 2024 electoral map.
Tyler is a seasoned strategist with a long record working at the national Democratic Party, on Georgia-based initiatives and for liberal causes.
Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez called Tyler an “exceptionally talented leader and communications professional, with a deep well of political expertise and experience.”
His new role also continues a Georgia pipeline to the president’s inner circle: Kate Bedingfield, another Atlanta native, served as Biden’s communications director for most of the past decade, including during his first years in the White House.
Tyler, who is set to start full time in July, was deeply involved with Atlanta’s unsuccessful bid for next year’s Democratic National Convention, and he oversaw messaging for LeBron James’ political organization during the 2020 election cycle.
He also served as top deputy for U.S. Sen. Cory Booker’s 2020 run for president and chief aide to Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez.
A native of southwest Atlanta, Tyler graduated in 2005 from the Westminster Schools and later earned his degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.
He started his political career managing communications for the Atlanta City Council before serving as the top spokesman for Michelle Nunn’s 2014 U.S. Senate bid. He later worked for U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin.
Georgia is expected to again be a premier political battleground after Biden’s narrow victory over former President Donald Trump in 2020 made him the first Democrat to carry the state in nearly three decades.
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