Alex Conant

Known for his roles leading communications on several U.S. presidential campaigns, Alex Conant currently manages public affairs campaigns for many of the world’s largest companies as a founding partner at Firehouse Strategies. Since co-founding Firehouse Strategies in 2016, Conant and his partners have grown the Washington, DC-based firm into an industry-leading, award-winning public affairs agency.

Conant’s work at Firehouse Strategies supports companies and organizations across the economy, including energy, finance, health care, manufacturing, retail, sports, tech, and trade. The victories he’s secured for clients include tariff relief, tax cuts, litigation and regulatory reductions. He’s especially proud of one of Firehouse’s first campaigns, which successfully passed legislation to authorize the sale of over-the-counter hearing aids in the United States, allowing millions of Americans to access cheaper hearing aids.

Prior to founding Firehouse, Conant worked as communications director for Sen. Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign, where he was the campaign’s senior spokesman and press strategist. Conant served as a senior advisor to Rubio from 2011 until 2016, helping build Rubio’s national profile, launch his presidential campaign, and win his first re-election to the U.S. Senate. Conant’s other political campaign work included serving as a senior advisor to Joni Ernst’s 2014 Senate campaign, press secretary for Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s presidential campaign in 2011, and the national press secretary for the Republican National Committee in 2008.

Before his presidential campaign work, Conant served in the White House during President George W. Bush’s second term as a press secretary for the Office of Management and Budget and as a White House spokesman. Conant’s White House positions gave him a front-row seat to some of the greatest challenges President Bush faced, including Hurricane Katrina, the Iraq war insurgency and the 2006 midterm “thumping.” Conant joined the White House after serving as John Thune’s first Senate press secretary, helping the newly elected senator save Ellsworth Air Force Base from the BRAC commission in 2005.

Reporters frequently seek out Conant for his expertise and insights; his quotes regularly appear in publications, like The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Politico and Axios. He is a regular guest on cable TV and radio, including CNN and National Public Radio, where he provides news analysis and political commentary. Conant is a member of the Washington Economic Club and the Arthur W. Page Society, the leading professional association for senior public relations and corporate communications executives worldwide.

He earned his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Public Affairs degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was also the editor-in-chief of the student daily, The Badger Herald. As an alumnus, he currently serves on UW-Madison’s La Follette School’s Board of Visitors. Conant grew up in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and remains a loyal Minnesota Vikings and Twins fan (although he also claims the Nationals as his National League team). He lives with his wife, three sons, and dog in the Chevy Chase neighborhood of Washington, DC.