A Closer Look at the Influential Career and Influence of Political Spokesperson Audrey Gelman

In the fall of 2013, Audrey Gelman joined the campaign of Scott Stringer, a democrat running for the post of New York City comptroller. Mr. Stringer was running against Eliot Spitzer who initially held a sizable and seemingly insurmountable lead in the polls. Audrey Gelman helped turn the tide for Mr. Stringer’s campaign as his spokesperson. She coordinated his media strategy and helped develop his brand among influential New Yorkers. Her work included managing his social media outreach where she traded posts with Mr. Spitzer’s team and established Mr. Stringer as a dynamic political opponent who was ready to take on the important and influential comptroller role.

Audrey Gelman helped the campaign by organizing a star-studded party at the Maritime Hotel in Chelsea. The party looked like a Fashion Week event more than a political fundraiser, and included various designers, nightclub managers, and actors including Audrey Gelman’s longtime friend Lena Dunham. Ms. Gelman secured coverage for the party throughout various media publications and on social media, raising the profile significantly for Mr. Stringer’s campaign.

Throughout the campaign Audrey Gelman developed her reputation as an intelligent spokesperson who developed herself as a rising political and culture figure. She developed strong relationships with local political reporters, brought in multiple A-list supporters, and fought for the campaign through many Twitter skirmishes. Her work and the efforts of others on the campaign team led to Mr. Stringer’s winning the democratic nomination for the comptroller role, which he then won soundly in the subsequent election.

Throughout her time on the campaign, Audrey Gelman gained attention for her own personal style, with fashion blogs and magazines noting her eclectic styles and red-carpet appearances. She met Lena Dunham when she was 11 and had several appearances on Dunham’s noteworthy show “Girls.”

She previously worked as a junior aide during Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential run and was a political wonk from her early years due to her neighborhood and her politically aware family. She was inspired to participate in politics after the 2000 Supreme Court decision in the contested presidential election, and left Oberlin College early to work on Clinton’s campaign in 2008. She returned to New York after Clinton’s defeat and finished her degree in political science at New York University. After graduation she joined Mr. Stringer’s team as deputy press secretary. In 2012 during the presidential election, she helped revive the political action committee Downtown for Democracy, which attracted attention from artists, musicians, and deep-pocketed tech founders.