Mark Mellman, the American political strategist who advised Finance Minister Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid Party in the January election, won the Best International Campaign award from the American Association of Political Consultants on Friday night for his work on the Israeli campaign.Because of Shabbat, Mellman did not attend the ceremony, in which his firm received multiple awards, which are often referred to as the “Oscars” of political consulting. However, a member of the Mellman Group received the awards for him.Besides Best International Campaign, the Mellman Group won Pollster of the Year for its work in the United States, including the successful Senate campaign of Heidi Heitkamp (Democrat- North Dakota) and House Campaign of John Barrow (Democrat-Georgia). The firm won a third award for the best initiative campaign.His competition for Best International Campaign included winning presidential campaigns in Ecuador and Mexico among others. Mellman credited Lapid with his victory, as well as the Yesh Atid leader’s chief of staff Hillel Korbinsky and spokeswoman Nilly Richman.“A year ago Yair congratulated me for winning this same award for a campaign in Albania,” Mellman recalled.“I thanked him and added that I hoped to win again this year for his campaign. So it is enormously gratifying for our firm to be recognized by our peers for this historic effort.But the award should really be bestowed on the whole team –Yair, all those on the list, Hillel Korbinsky, Nili Richman and so many others, including the grass roots volunteers who made it all possible.”Mellman – one of the nation’s leading public opinion researchers and communication strategists – is CEO of The Mellman Group, a polling and consulting firm whose clients include leading political figures, Fortune 500 companies, and some of the nation’s most important public interest groups. Mellman has helped guide the campaigns of some 18 United States senators, eight governors and over two dozen Members of Congress, as well as numerous state and local officials.Besides Israel, Mellman has worked with a wide range of political and corporate clients around the globe, including the United Kingdom, Costa Rica, Uruguay, the Republic of Georgia, and the successful election of President César Gaviria in Columbia. Mellman’s corporate clients include Coca Cola and United Airlines.
