One Man’s Story—From Rental Car Employee to Campaign Doctor for Local, State, and National Races

Chuck Muth’s political roots run deep and have been a lifetime in the making.

His father took a break in the 1980s from Baltimore City firefighting and served one term in the Maryland Legislature when Chuck and his three brothers and two sisters were growing up. Later, Chuck’s brother worked for former Maryland Congressman Bob Ehrlich, who later became the 60th Governor of Maryland (2003-2007).

Chuck was himself pulled into politics in 1995, when he was elected chairman of the local GOP central committee in Las Vegas, where he and his wife of 25 years, Gia, moved in 1988 for a job with a rental car company.

Now, Chuck has distinguished titles on his resume—former executive director of the American Conservative Union, National Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus, Clark County GOP chairman, and former Nevada Republican Party executive director.

Today Chuck stays busy as a conservative in Las Vegas.

He’s president and CEO of the libertarian-leaning, non-profit grassroots advocacy organization Citizen Outreach, publisher of Nevada News and Views, and founder of CampaignDoctor.com, an online candidate coaching program.

“The Leadership Institute came out to do a training program for grassroots activists at my invitation,” Chuck said, “and that established my longtime relationship with and admiration for LI.”

For Chuck, “Leadership Institute training has been the basis and foundation of my entire political/public policy career. I wouldn’t be where I am today – doing what I love doing, while making a difference – were it not for the training I received early on, and to this day, from the Leadership Institute. That’s not hyperbole. That’s not spin. That’s just fact,” Chuck said.

After serving as chairman of the local Las Vegas GOP central committee in 1995, Chuck was hired full-time as the executive director of the Nevada Republican Party and continued to work for the state party for the next six years.

After state politics, Chuck moved into the national scene in Washington, D.C., when he accepted the executive director role at the American Conservative Union in 2002.

One year later, Chuck was asked to take over as chairman of Citizen Outreach, and, by the end of 2005, the organization was sufficiently funded, so Chuck and his family moved back to Nevada to transition Citizen Outreach to primarily a state-based organization.



Chuck currently hosts the monthly “third Thursday” center-right coalition meeting in Las Vagas, the “First Friday Happy Hour” mixer each month in Las Vegas, and the 5th Annual Conservative Leadership Conference, which will run from June 8 to 10 in Las Vegas.

This year, Chuck launched CampaignDoctor.com, campaign coaching programs that utilize technology—teleconferences, e-newsletters, webinars, DVDs—to help conservative candidates, tea party leaders, and grassroots activists.

After his first LI training in Nevada, Chuck fundraised to come to Arlington, VA for the week-long Campaign Management School, formerly known as the Campaign Leadership School.

“That training gave me the confidence to run against the Democrat State Senate Minority Leader in 1996,” Chuck reflected.  “I lost, but it wasn’t because of my LI training, but because the district had a large, 3-1 Democrat majority. Still, that experience and LI’s training helped me begin conducting my own campaign training workshops and seminars throughout Nevada.”

Chuck has taken five trainings at the Leadership Institute: High-Dollar Fundraising School; Advanced Direct Mail School; Internet Activist School; Campaign Leadership School; and Public Relations School.

He also serves as volunteer faculty for LI’s Grassroots Campaign trainings, and he helps to fund dozens of conservative Nevada activists and candidates to attend LI’s Campaign Management School.

When asked what he learned from LI, Chuck said, “Well, pretty much everything I know. Or let me put it this way: The early LI training I received put me on a path of lifetime learning about the nuts and bolts of campaign operations and public policy advocacy.”

You too can be trained and shape your community.

Go here for information on the dates for LI’s upcoming trainings and locations.

Please welcome Chuck as the Leadership Institute Graduate of the Week!

To nominate a Leadership Institute graduate to be featured as LI's graduate of the week, please contact LI's External Affairs Officer Lauren Hart at LaurenHart@LeadershipInstitute.org.