Moderator

Dan Schnur is a Professor at the University of California – Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies, Pepperdine University’s Graduate School of Public Policy, and the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Communications, where he teaches courses in politics, communications and leadership. Earlier in his career, Dan worked on four presidential campaigns, including Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and John McCain.  He is the founder of the USC/LA Times statewide political poll and currently hosts a weekly webinar for the LA World Affairs Council Town Hall called “Politics in the Time of Coronavirus.

MORE INFO

Panelist

Cindy Black has been the Executive Director of Fix Democracy First since 2016. She was also the Campaign Director for WAmend’s successful statewide 2016 ballot Initiative 735 campaign, making Washington the 18th State to call for a U.S. Constitutional amendment to end court decisions like Citizens United. She is active with several state and national coalitions, addressing voting access, money in elections, alternative voting systems, and increasing civic participation. Cindy is committed to helping pass pro-democracy legislation locally and nationally, as well as building an active citizen’s movement through ongoing coalition building, common sense reforms, and public outreach.

MORE INFO

Panelist

Trevor Potter is the founder and President of Campaign Legal Center. He is a former Chairman of the Federal Election Commission, and was General Counsel to John McCain’s 2000 and 2008 presidential campaigns. To many, he is perhaps best known for his recurring appearances on The Colbert Report as the lawyer for Stephen Colbert’s super PAC. A Republican, he was appointed to the FEC in 1991 by President George H.W. Bush. In recent years, Potter has led CLC as it has grown to meet significant challenges to our democracy. CLC works to end extreme partisan gerrymandering and participates in legal proceedings across the country to defend the right to vote and improve the disclosure and regulation of campaign finance. CLC also plays a leading watchdog role on ethics issues, providing expert analysis and helping journalists uncover ethical violations.

MORE INFO

Panelist

Mark Gaber was a member of the Appellate & Supreme Court, Election Law and Redistricting and Media & First Amendment practice groups as an Associate before joining CLC. Mark has worked in a number of redistricting and voting rights cases. He served as counsel in Alabama Legislative Black Caucus v. Alabama and North Carolina v. Covington, and represented CLC as amici counsel before the Supreme Court in cases challenging racial gerrymanders in Virginia and North Carolina. Mark also represented CLC as amici counsel in Evenwel v. Abbott, where the Supreme Court adopted CLC’s position regarding the appropriate metric for assigning equal population to legislative districts. Mark served as co-counsel with CLC challenging Alabama’s felon disenfranchisement laws, and argued a Tenth Circuit appeal in a case involving the redistricting of Albuquerque’s city council districts.

MORE INFO