Adam Parkhomenko

Adam Julian Parkhomenko (born October 22, 1985) is an American political strategist and organizer who served in 2016 as the national field director for the Democratic National Committee.^[1] He was the co-founder and executive director of Ready for Hillary, a super PAC established to persuade Hillary Clinton to run for the presidency of the United States in 2016.^[2][3][4] In the 2017 party election, Parkhomenko was a candidate for vice chair of the Democratic National Committee.^[5]

Adam Parkhomenko
Born	(1985-10-22) October 22, 1985 (age 39) Arlington, Virginia, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Former National Field Director, Democratic National Committee
Known for	Founder of Ready for Hillary
Political party	Democratic
Partner	Ally Sammarco (2021-present)
Children	2

Career

As a 17-year-old student in 2003 at Northern Virginia Community College, Parkhomenko set up VoteHillary.org, an independent website that urged voters to vote for Hillary Clinton during the 2004 Democratic presidential primary.^[6][7][8][9] He later ran Draft Hillary for President 2004, which was founded in 2003 and shut down in 2004.^[10]

HillPAC, Clinton's political action committee, hired Parkhomenko as a staffer while he was leading Draft Hillary for President 2004.^{[10][11][12][13]} He worked in various capacities for Clinton, including a stint as assistant to Clinton's campaign manager during the 2008 Democratic primary.^[14][15] He left the Clinton presidential campaign in March 2008.^[12]

Shortly after leaving the Clinton campaign, Parkhomenko launched Vote Both with Sam Arora.^[14][16][17] Vote Both was an independent expenditure committee dedicated to persuading then-Senator Barack Obama—at the time the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee—to pick Hillary Clinton as his vice presidential running mate.^[14][16][17] Vote Both ceased operations in late July 2008, when it became clear to Parkhomenko and Arora that Obama would not select Clinton as his running mate.^[17]

At the age of 23, Parkhomenko ran for the Democratic nomination for the 47th district in the Virginia House of Delegates during the 2009 Virginia state primary elections.^[18][19] His candidacy was endorsed by Bill Clinton, Wesley Clark and Patsy Ticer.^[20][21][22] Parkhomenko finished third among five candidates in the Democratic primary to replace Al Eisenberg.^[23]

In January 2013, Parkhomenko and Allida Black, a George Washington University historian and professor, launched Ready for Hillary, a super PAC that aimed to persuade Hillary Clinton to run for the presidency of the United States in 2016.^[2][24][25] Parkhomenko served as executive director of the PAC.^[2] Most of the other staff members from Ready for Hillary were not offered positions on the campaign, causing some hostility ^[26]

In early April 2015, Parkhomenko left Ready for Hillary to join Clinton's official campaign as its director of grassroots engagement.^[27] He also served as the state director for the Maryland and District of Columbia primaries, which Clinton won by 30 and 58 points, respectively.^{[28][29][30][31]}

In September 2016, Parkhomenko was named the national field director for the Democratic National Committee.^[1]

Immediately following the 2016 presidential election, Parkhomenko announced his run for vice chair of the Democratic National Committee.^[32] His campaign was unsuccessful.

Parkhomenko co-founded Party Majority PAC, a super PAC focused on grassroots organizing and electing Democrats.^[33]

In 2020 Politico named Parkhomenko's prediction that Jaime Harrison would win the U.S. Senate election in South Carolina one of "the most audacious, confident and spectacularly incorrect prognostications about the year."^[34]

Personal life

Parkhomenko was born in Washington, DC and raised in Arlington, Virginia.^[35] He is a graduate of Washington-Lee High School, Northern Virginia Community College and George Mason University.^[35] Parkhomenko founded Ready for Hillary while attending George Mason. He also served as a reserve police officer during this period.^[36]

Parkhomenko met Ally Sammarco in 2021 and they became engaged in 2022.^[37]