New Chairman and Vice Chairman elected
On December 14, 2006, the Commission elected Robert D. Lenhard as its Chairman and David M. Mason as Vice Chairman for 2007.
Chairman Lenhard, a Democrat from Maryland, was appointed to the Commission on January 4, 2006, by President George W. Bush. Prior to his appointment, Chairman Lenhard served as an Associate General Counsel with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO (AFSCME). At AFSCME, he was responsible for legal issues related to federal and state election laws. His work included counseling the union on federal and state campaign finance issues, litigating enforcement actions before the FEC and state agencies, and providing training to field staff on federal and state election law issues.
Prior to his work at AFSCME, Chairman Lenhard was an associate at the law firm of Kirschner, Weinberg & Dempsey where he represented AFSCME and other labor unions. He has also worked for the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU), and the Los Angeles law firm of Grace, Neumeyer & Otto.
Chairman Lenhard earned his bachelor’s degree with honors from Johns Hopkins University in 1981. He graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law in 1984. He is currently an active member of the District of Columbia Bar.
Vice Chairman Mason, a Republican, was appointed to the Commission by President William Clinton on March 4, 1998, and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 30, 1998. He was nominated for a second term by President George W. Bush on December 19, 2005.
Prior to joining the Commission, Vice Chairman Mason was a Senior Fellow in Congressional Studies at the Heritage Foundation. He joined the Heritage Foundation in 1990 and served at various times as Director of Executive Branch Liaison, Director of the Foundation’s U.S. Congress Assessment Project, and Vice President, Government Relations.
Vice Chairman Mason also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, where he managed the Pentagon’s relations with the U.S. House of Representatives. One of his major accomplishments was guiding the base closing legislation to a successful conclusion.
Vice Chairman Mason served on Capitol Hill as a Legislative Assistant to Senator John Warner, Legislative Director to Representative Tom Bliley, and Staff Director to then-House Republican Whip Trent Lott. He was active in many Congressional, Senatorial, Gubernatorial and Presidential campaigns, and was himself the Republican nominee for the Virginia House of Delegates in the 48th District in 1982.
Vice Chairman Mason attended Lynchberg College in Virginia and graduated cum laude from Claremont McKenna College in California