Ashlee Rich Stephenson
Ashlee Rich Stephenson, Partner of New Strategies Group, is a Republican strategist and general consultant. She currently advises candidates for political office, independent expenditure campaigns and corporate interests.
In August 2011, Ashlee directed the successful voter contact program for Michele Bachmann's historic Iowa Presidential Straw Poll victory. During the 2008 presidential election cycle, Ashlee served as the Polling Director for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's Presidential Campaign.
A pollster and professional focus group moderator, she has conducted research for U.S. Presidential candidates to local political campaigns, independent expenditure groups, domestic and international corporations. In 2012 she conducted focus groups and provided research consulting services to the Romney for President campaign.
A great deal of Ashlee’s focus and political work is dedicated to understanding the voting behavior of women. Her interest in the political psychology among women – both as voters and female candidates - stems from her undergraduate thesis, a quantitative study of the concept of a “feminine jurisprudence,” analyzing the case rulings among women judges across a variety of topics in an effort to understand if the psychology of gender roles affect decision making from the bench. Through her career, Ashlee has had a continued interest in working with both female candidates and helping clients better understand ways to communicate with this majority voting bloc.
Ashlee provides political analysis and briefings for a number of groups and organizations. In addition, she appears as a strategist and pollster on Washington DC's FOX 5 News and FoxNewsLive.com.
She also volunteers her time teaching campaign management training classes for the Leadership Institute, a conservative grassroots campaign training organization founded in 1979 by Morton Blackwell.
A graduate of Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a minor in Spanish. Ashlee was featured in Allegheny College’s “The First Five” a series of profiles celebrating the accomplishments of Allegheny College graduates in their first five years as alumni. She was also named a “Hot Shot of the 2008 Election” and was as a speaker for the Allegheny College Center for Political Participation panel reviewing the 2008 Presidential Election results.
A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Ashlee now resides in Alexandria, Virginia with her husband Mark and cocker spaniel Chip. In her free time she enjoys running and cycling, and completed her first full marathon in May 2011. She serves as on the Alumni Advisory board for the Gamma Rho chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma.