TJ Helmstetter

T.J. came to Blue State Digital in December 2008 straight off the campaign trail. In the last election cycle, he co-managed communications and fundraising on a long-shot, "red-district" congressional race that exceeded all Beltway expectations, raising over $1 million and scoring press hits in national outlets ranging from Time Magazine to ABC World News.

Prior to the campaign, T.J. worked on the ground to advance LGBT civil rights. While at Garden State Equality, he organized marriage equality proponents and experts to testify to the state's Civil Union Review Commission that "civil unions don't work"; the Commission broke ground with its official finding that New Jersey should enact full marriage rights.

At the start of his career, T.J. held a two-year fellowship and full-time internship with People For the American Way. There, he helped a small team scale up the Young People For program in its second year, recruiting students from across the country and working closely with partner organizations to help strengthen youth outreach efforts among progressives.

A recent transplant to DC, T.J. might be found on Amtrak's Northeast Regional trains heading back to New York.