Our Firm
The professionals of Politics Counsel, led by veteran political strategist Mark Weaver, include Matt Dole, Ryan Stubenrauch, Jamieson Gordon and Libby Krieger. They have provided general and media consulting and advice on more than 800 campaigns. In particular, Mr. Weaver has been guiding campaigns for four decades.
Politics Counsel specializes in creating winning strategies for ballot issue campaigns and Republican candidates. They have extensive experience in generating memorable and unique TV and radio ads that break through the clutter that most voters ignore. Politics Counsel also helps candidates and campaign spokespeople be more effective speakers through services that include speech writing, speech coaching, TelePrompter training, and advanced interview skills.
The work of Politics Counsel is regularly recognized at the national level for high quality and creativity. To date, they have earned 12 different national "Pollie" awards for excellence in political advertising (including TV, radio, and digital advertising), three national "Telly" awards for excellence in TV advertising, one national "Reed Award" (Campaigns & Elections/Politics magazine) for best printed design for a political campaign, one "Reed Award" for producing the best local political TV ad in America, and one "Reed Award" for creating the best public affairs campaign in America. In 2017, the firm was recognized with a Pollie Award for producing the best congressional radio commercial in the nation.
In addition to winning campaigns, Politics Counsel often presents at seminars and trainings on various aspects of politics. They have conducted political training for the Republican National Committee, Campaigns & Elections Magazine, the American Association of Political Consultants, the Ohio Republican Party, the Pennsylvania Republican Party, the West Virginia Republican Party, the South Dakota Senate Republican Caucus, the University of Akron Bliss Institute of Applied Politics, the JoAnn Davidson Leadership Institute (Ohio), the Anne Anstine Excellence in Public Service series (Pennsylvania), and the Dodie Londen Excellence in Public Service series (Arizona).
At Politics Counsel, we have the experience and knowledge to propel you to victory on Election Day.
Mark R. Weaver, Esq.
Mark R. Weaver is an award-winning national Republican political consultant and election law attorney. Over the last three decades, he has advised more than 800 political campaigns in 18 states.
The Youngstown Vindicator called him, "the most prominent and successful political consultant in Ohio." The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review agreed, calling him, "among the top political strategists in the country.” Campaigns and Elections magazine named Mr. Weaver to its “Influencer 500” list of the top political players (of either party) in America, also naming him among the top five GOP influencers in Ohio.
He is the author of the award-winning book, A Wordsmith's Work (now in its fourth edition) which shares various writings from his career and offers tips for different styles of writing such as ghost-writing, crafting op-eds, communicating in a crisis, and writing speeches. The book is available here.
Early in his career, Mr. Weaver was a Communications Director with the Republican Caucus of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and ran a Philadelphia-area political consulting firm. Later, as a national communications consultant, he worked one-on-one with President Ronald Reagan. Mr. Weaver has advised many GOP candidates for Governor, U.S. Senate, Congress, state Supreme Court Justice, and other statewide offices. He has also advised the Republican legislative caucuses in the Ohio House, the Ohio Senate, the South Dakota Senate, and the Pennsylvania House.
Mr. Weaver has worked on dozens of ballot issue campaigns and remains undefeated in nearly a dozen statewide ballot issue campaigns in Ohio.
He has written hundreds of campaign plans, supervised countless polls and focus groups, and produced thousands of TV and radio commercials -- winning three Telly awards, 12 Pollie awards, and four Reed awards from Campaigns and Elections magazine. He regularly addresses conferences and campaign seminars across America.
For two decades, Mr. Weaver taught graduate courses in Election Law and Advanced Campaign Management at the University of Akron and Media Law at The Ohio State College of Law. He’s currently an Adjunct Professor at the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In 2004, he was one of the lead attorneys and strategists in the legal efforts surrounding President Bush's election and recount in Ohio.
Of the more than 50,000 people who’ve graduated from Abington (PA) High School, Mr. Weaver is among the 120 or so inducted into its Hall of Fame since 1928. He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Public Administration from Kutztown University in Pennsylvania, where he has received more alumni awards than any other graduate of that institution. Following additional graduate studies at the University of Delaware, he earned his Juris Doctorate from the Delaware Law School, where he graduated in the top 15% of his class. The University of Akron awarded Mr. Weaver an honorary certificate in Applied Politics and later named him Distinguished Chair of that university’s Bliss Institute of Applied Politics.
His op-ed writing has been featured in USA Today, Newsweek, the Washington Post, and several other major U.S. newspapers. He has been interviewed by every major national media outlet including 60 Minutes, Nightline, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, MSNBC, CNN, FOX News, NPR, BBC, Time magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and the Associated Press.
He maintains an active Twitter presence at: @MarkRWeaver
Mr. Weaver and his wife Lori reside in Central Ohio, and they are the proud parents of two grown children.
Matt Dole
Matt Dole is a political consultant based in Columbus, Ohio. He has served as a volunteer, county chair, general and media consultant to over 350 candidates, committees and PACs more than 10 states. He has produced television ads, radio ads, web videos, and collateral materials that have been recognized with both Pollie Awards and Reed Awards. Mr. Dole is also a regular instructor at campaign schools covering topics ranging from strategy to voter contact methods such as TV, radio, direct mail, and digital advertising.
As a commentator on political campaigns, he's been interviewed or published by, among others, FoxNews, Daily Caller, Cincinnati Enquirer, Marietta Times, Washington Examiner, The Hill, Time, CNN, NBC News, Reuters, ABC News, Al Arabiya television, and Haitian National Television. He appears regularly on the central Ohio public affairs show, NBC4’s The Spectrum.
In 2020, Dole published “Red Alert: Task Management in the Age of Notification Overload.” In 50 pages he outlines the task management system he’s developed to be more efficient and productive in a world dominated by remote work, full email inboxes, and unlimited notifications across multiple devices. In 2022, he published an anthology of 25 stories about America’s Civil War and World War II.
Dole is an Ohio Senate appointee on the Ohio Broadcast Educational Media Commission. In 2023 he was appointed by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine as the Chairman of the Commission.
In addition to his work in politics, Mr. Dole is involved with the preservation of political history and serves as national secretary of the American Political Item Collectors (APIC). He has served on numerous non-profit boards, including as President of Heartbeats, a life-affirming pregnancy medical center. In 2023 he was elected as Chairman of the Licking County, Ohio Republican Executive Committee.
Mr. Dole is a graduate of Marietta College with a degree in history and is an active volunteer of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity. He lives in Licking County in central Ohio.
Ryan Stubenrauch
Ryan Stubenrauch has more than a dozen years of experience as an attorney, communications advisor, and political strategist to a wide range of clients. Mr. Stubenrauch has worked on nine different statewide political campaigns including serving as communications director and spokesperson for Governor Mike DeWine in 2010, 2014, and 2018.
He has also consulted on communications, campaign strategy, and grassroots for more than 40 other campaigns for the Ohio General Assembly, U.S. Congress, U.S. Senate, Ohio Attorney General, Ohio Auditor of State, County Sheriff, County Prosecutor and Ohio judicial races at every level from municipal court to the Ohio Supreme Court.
Since 2006, Mr. Stubenrauch has developed close working relationships with members of TV, radio, and print media in every Ohio region. He’s regularly quoted on political issues in both Ohio and national news publications and appears on Sunday political programs in central Ohio.
He also regularly advises clients on election law and has represented numerous candidates before the Ohio Elections Commission and county board of election hearings. He is a graduate of The Ohio State University and Capital University Law School. Mr. Stubenrauch and his wife Josie live in Lewis Center, Ohio, where they are the proud parents of three children.
Jamieson gordon
Jamieson Gordon has been at the forefront of some of the most contentious policy fights in the Ohio General Assembly in decades. As communications director for Ohio Right to Life, she helped to craft and implement successful media strategies, legislative outreach, and social media strategies around policy initiatives.
Through her experience at Ohio Right to Life and elsewhere, Ms. Gordon has become an accomplished writer, graphic designer, and social media marketer, which she puts to good use for the clients of Politics Counsel.
She’s a 2020 graduate and member of the Jo Ann Davidson Ohio Leadership Institute, a program designed to encourage and prepare Republican women for leadership roles in the community, in politics, and in government.
Ms. Gordon graduated Magna Cum Laude from Grove City College where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and French. She spent much of her free time in college as she does now, serving as a leader for Young Life, a high school outreach ministry.
Ms. Gordon lives in Central Ohio with her husband Jake and their son.
libby krieger
Libby Krieger has a unique background with experience in conservative media, student activism, and grassroots campaigning.
She started grassroots campaign work at the age of seven during her father’s election and re-election campaigns for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and Court of Common Pleas. Libby continued this grassroots work in the current cycle by knocking on doors and making phone calls.
Along with her campaign experience, she has a breadth of experience in conservative media. Her reporting can be found in several outlets including The Daily Wire, Campus Reform, The American Spectator, and MRCTV. Ms. Krieger’s journalism experience also includes broadcast reporting with Right Side Broadcasting Network at Trump rallies and events. She’s had the opportunity to interview Former Attorney General Bill Barr, The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles, Former President Donald Trump’s Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, Dr. Paul Kengor, and Dr. Carl Trueman.
Libby also has internship experience with D.C. organizations including Leadership Institute, The American Spectator, Media Research Center, and Young America’s Foundation’s National Journalism Center.
Ms. Krieger is a 2022 graduate of Grove City College, where she earned degrees in Political Science and Communication Arts. While at Grove City College, she was a Marketing Fellow for the Institute for Faith & Freedom (IFF), where she created and co-hosted the podcast “Liberty Mail,” hosted on-camera interviews with professors, managed the organization’s Instagram account, and helped organize and advertise for IFF’s on-campus events. As a student activist, Libby was the Secretary of the College Republicans, helping to coordinate several Republican Pennsylvania U.S. Senate Primary speaking events and the Newsmax TV debate. Additionally, Libby was the founding Vice President of the college’s Young Women for America chapter.
