Interview with Chip Lake, February 22, 2018Collection: Two-Party Georgia Oral History Project |
Dublin Core
Description
Lake talks about his childhood and early fascination with politics. Lake recalls moving up the ranks among Republican campaigns. Lake then turns to modern subjects, predicting that the 2018 election will be a wave election in favor of the Democrats and that those effects will trickle down into Georgia’s statewide and local races. He comments that Donald Trump’s election in 2016 highlighted the demographic problem the Republicans have, as college-educated voters turned away from Trump and the Republican Party en masse that year. Lake then explains the reasons he believes both political parties have an increasing “anti-establishment” sentiment within them. Lake closes by discussing the impact the 2021 redistricting will have on Georgia politics and how the Democrats are well-mobilized in preparation for the 2018 election while many Republican incumbents are retiring instead of fighting for another term.
Chip Lake was born in Texas and moved to Kennesaw, Georgia at a young age. Lake went to college at Auburn University and interned for Rusty Paul’s office in Atlanta. After graduation, Lake began working on larger campaigns, first for Steve Forbes’s 2000 presidential campaign and then Rick Lazio’s run for New York’s U.S. Senate seat that same year. Afterward, Lake returned to Georgia to work in the offices of a number of Republican state legislatures before joining Phil Gingrey’s congressional campaign as a general consultant in 2002. After Lynn Westmoreland’s own congressional victory in 2004, Lake became Westmoreland’s chief of staff, where he remained until 2011. Since then, Lake has become a consultant for Glendale Strategies and campaign marketing for Twin Oaks Connect, while doing occasion sports commentary via podcasts.
Chip Lake was born in Texas and moved to Kennesaw, Georgia at a young age. Lake went to college at Auburn University and interned for Rusty Paul’s office in Atlanta. After graduation, Lake began working on larger campaigns, first for Steve Forbes’s 2000 presidential campaign and then Rick Lazio’s run for New York’s U.S. Senate seat that same year. Afterward, Lake returned to Georgia to work in the offices of a number of Republican state legislatures before joining Phil Gingrey’s congressional campaign as a general consultant in 2002. After Lynn Westmoreland’s own congressional victory in 2004, Lake became Westmoreland’s chief of staff, where he remained until 2011. Since then, Lake has become a consultant for Glendale Strategies and campaign marketing for Twin Oaks Connect, while doing occasion sports commentary via podcasts.
Date
2018-02-22
Identifier
RBRL425TPGA-041
Coverage
Oral History Item Type Metadata
Location
Duration
87 minutes
Citation
Chip Lake and Ashton Ellett, “Interview with Chip Lake, February 22, 2018,” UGA Special Collections Libraries Oral Histories, accessed April 19, 2024, https://georgiaoralhistory.libs.uga.edu/RBRL425TPGA/RBRL425TPGA-041.