Mark Mellman, a longtime Democratic political strategist and former president of Democratic Majority for Israel, died this week after a long illness.

Mellman, CEO of the Mellman Group, led campaigns for more than 30 U.S. senators, including former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), as well as dozens of members of Congress, including Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Seth Moulton (D-MA). He worked on John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign and was the former president of the American Association of Political Consultants.

He was also a fixture of election coverage and commentary, analyzing presidential debate performances for PBS and The Wall Street Journal, writing a longtime column for The Hill, and more.

In Israel, Mellman was the longtime advisor to opposition leader Yair Lapid and his Yesh Atid party, including during Yesh Atid’s meteoric rise from a new party to the second-largest in the Knesset in the 2013 election and Lapid’s brief time as prime minister in 2022.

Lapid paid tribute to Mellman as “a friend and a mentor. A man with a huge heart and a wonderful sense of humor. He was also a trusted advisor and a brilliant strategic mind. …He will be sorely missed by me, my family and everyone at Yesh Atid.” 

Mellman co-founded Democratic Majority for Israel in 2019 to support pro-Israel Democrats and counter rising anti-Israel sentiment in the party. He led DMFI, one of the first pro-Israel organizations to donate directly to political campaigns, for six years, until he stepped down earlier this year.

Todd Richman, the co-founder and former co-chair of Democratic Majority for Israel, wrote on X, “The news of @MarkMellman passing away is devastating. He will be sorely missed especially within the pro-Israel community. His stature, intellect, knowledge of the issues, his ability to understand trends and his overall credibility helped make @DemMaj4Israel into the powerhouse that it is today.” 

“We could not have done this without him,” Richman continued. “I remember when Ann Lewis and I met with Mark just to get additional thoughts on how we can build this organization, and he told us he would like to be the organization’s CEO. Ann and I couldn’t believe it. It was like manna from heaven. DMFI would not be where it is today without him.”

Mellman also worked with AIPAC in 2015 on a campaign against the Iran nuclear deal.

He was an active member of the Kesher Israel synagogue in Georgetown.

Matt Brooks, CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition, posted on X that he “always had tremendous respect for Mark Mellman.” 

Democratic Arizona state Rep. Alma Hernandez called Mellman “a passionate, strong voice for Israel…one sharp, good man and an amazing pollster. Boy, did he know his stuff. … I know the pro-Israel [Democrat] world lost a true leader.” 

William Daroff, the CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said, “Mark Mellman never stood on the sidelines. He stood shoulder-to-shoulder with our community and worked to elect leaders who shared his own unwavering commitment to Israel and the Jewish people. He brought strategy, integrity and courage to every fight. I was proud to call him my friend, and our community is stronger because he gave it his voice, his talent and his heart.”

Mellman leaves behind his wife, three children and grandchildren. His funeral will be held on Sunday.

In the closing weeks of former Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential run last year, her campaign solicited guidance on how to win over the moderate and persuadable Republican voters she would need to defeat Donald Trump. 

One of the chief ways she could do that, according to a memo from political strategist Maria Comella, would be to tout her support for Israel — and make clear she disagreed with people in the Democratic Party who compared Israel to Hamas.

“It is wrong to draw moral equivalency between a terrorist organization in Hamas and the State of Israel. No terrorist organization should be celebrated. Our support for Israel and her right to self defense should not be questioned,” Comella, a close advisor to former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, and a onetime chief of staff to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, wrote in one of four memos she sent to the Harris campaign in the fall. 

The memos were published by Politico and reported in a new book about the 2024 race by the political journalists Josh Dawsey, Tyler Pager and Isaac Arnsdorf. The authors wrote that Comella did not feel her ideas were taken seriously. (Comella did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.) 

The messaging on Israel was part of a broader pitch by Comella for Harris to gain legitimacy with moderate swing voters by demonstrating a willingness to “call out your own party when it matters.” 

She could also do this, Comella argued, by drawing a contrast with the far left about the importance of America’s role in the world.

“Trump wants us to act like just any other country with no special role in the world while too many on the far left don’t want to acknowledge the fundamental goodness of our country and its people,” wrote Comella, who also advised Harris to make clear that Democrats who use hateful language to describe Trump voters are not being helpful.

In another memo, Comella described a “persuasion campaign that needs to be waged” to win over anti-Trump Republicans, anti-incumbent independents and Republicans who are “soft or still skeptical” of Trump. She advised Harris to draw a greater distinction between herself and former President Joe Biden.