James Blair (political advisor)

Michael James Blair (born May 21, 1989) is an American political consultant who has served as the White House deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs since 2025.

Blair graduated from Florida State University with a bachelor's degree in finance. In 2013, he founded Rapid Loop Consulting, a political consulting firm. Blair's political work was largely concentrated within Florida, working within the state's Republican Party and serving as an assistant to Richard Corcoran, the speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. He helped lead Corcoran's unmaterialized campaign for the 2018 Florida gubernatorial election and later became involved with Ron DeSantis's campaign. Blair served as DeSantis's deputy chief of staff until his resignation in August 2019. He worked for several political campaigns, including for Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign in Florida.

By March 2024, Blair had been appointed the political director of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. That month, Michael Whatley, the chair of the Republican National Committee, announced that Blair would served as the committee's political director. In November, Trump named Blair as his White House deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs.

Michael James Blair^[1] was born on May 21, 1989.^[2] Blair graduated from Gaither High School in 2007^[1] and from Florida State University with a bachelor's degree in finance.^[3]

In 2013, Blair founded Rapid Loop Consulting, a political consulting firm. He divested from the firm after the 2024 presidential election, according to the company's president.^[4] By 2015, Blair had become involved in the Florida Republican Party. According to Politico, the party had spent—and reimbursed—over US$800,000 through his personal charge card. By the following year, he had become an assistant to Richard Corcoran, the then-designate speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.^[5] In August 2016, Corcoran appointed Blair to lead external affairs within his office.^[6] In September 2018, Blair was named to the board of Enterprise Florida.^[7] Additionally, Blair helped lead Corcoran's initial, unmaterialized campaign for that year's Florida gubernatorial election.^[8]

By October 2018, he had become involved with Ron DeSantis's campaign in the gubernatorial election as a senior advisor.^[9] After DeSantis's victory, Blair advised him on policy.^[10] He served as DeSantis's deputy chief of staff until his resignation in August 2019.^[11] Blair lead Melissa Nelson's re-election effort as the state attorney for Florida's fourth judicial circuit^[12] and worked for Donald Trump's 2020 presidential campaign in Florida.^[13] By June 2021, Blair had become a spokeswoman for Anna Paulina Luna.^[14] The following month, the conservative commentator Tudor Dixon hired Blair to help her campaign in the 2022 Michigan gubernatorial election^[15] as her lead strategist.^[16] He registered the domain name for Saving Arizona PAC, a political action committee in support of Blake Masters in the 2022 Senate election in Arizona.^[17] With Andy Surabian, Blair lead a political action committee to challenge representative Liz Cheney's re-election campaign.^[18] Concurrently, Blair worked on Luna and Cory Mills's campaigns.^[19] With Andy Surabian, he led a political action committee, American Leadership PAC, to advance representative Jim Banks's policies.^[20]

By March 2024, Blair had been appointed the political director of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. That month, Michael Whatley, the chair of the Republican National Committee, announced that Blair would served as the committee's political director;^[21] he was involved in the drafting of the committee's platform that year.^[22] Blair focused on attracting low and mid-propensity voters,^[23] apolitical men,^[24] and African Americans.^[25] He coordinated a voter outreach effort intended to be run at a lower cost than the US$130 million spent on the field operation for Trump's 2020 campaign.^[26] He signed data sharing agreements with Turning Point Action and America First Works to facilitate canvassing.^[27]

In November 2024, The Washington Post reported that Blair was expected to be named as a White House deputy chief of staff.^[28] On November 13, Trump named Blair as his deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs.^[29] In February 2025, Politico described him as an opponent of Elon Musk's work within the federal government.^[30] With Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, and James Braid, the White House director of legislative affairs, he participated in budget talks with Congress in May.^[31]