New Chairman and Vice Chairman elected

On December 14, 2005, the Commission elected Michael E. Toner as its Chairman and Danny Lee McDonald as Vice Chairman for 2006.

Chairman Toner was nominated to the Commission by President George W. Bush on March 4, 2002, and appointed on March 29, 2002. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 18, 2003.

Prior to being appointed to the FEC, Chairman Toner served as Chief Counsel of the Republican National Committee. He joined the RNC in 2001 after serving as General Counsel of the Bush-Cheney Transition Team in Washington, DC, and General Counsel of the Bush-Cheney 2000 Presidential Campaign in Austin, TX.

Before joining the Bush campaign in Austin, Chairman Toner was Deputy Counsel at the RNC from 1997-1999. Prior to his tenure at the RNC, he served as counsel to the Dole/Kemp Presidential Campaign in 1996. He was an associate attorney at Wiley, Rein, & Fielding in Washington, DC, from 1992-1996.

Vice Chairman McDonald, a Democrat, has previously served as Vice Chairman four times. Prior to his initial appointment by President Reagan in 1981, the Sand Springs, Oklahoma, native served as General Administrator of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. Additionally, he served as secretary of the Tulsa County Election Board and as Chief Clerk of that Board. He was also a member of the Advisory Panel to the FEC’s National Clearinghouse on Election Administration.

Vice Chairman McDonald received a Bachelors degree from Oklahoma State University and attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He has served as a member of the JFK School Advisory Board for State and Local Government.