Tara Setmayer

Ms. Setmayer is Co-Founder and CEO of The Seneca Project, a unapologetic movement—by women, for women— galvanizing voters to rise up against the assault on women’s freedoms, the erosion of democracy. She is a former CNN political commentator, contributor to ABC News and former GOP Communications Director on Capitol Hill. She's appeared on ABC's The View,[2] ABC's Good Morning America, and on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher. Today, she regularly appears as an on-air commentator on MSNBC and various other news outlets in the US and abroad.

Setmayer has served as a University of Virginia, Center for Politics, Resident Scholar for the since 2020. In collaboration with the Center for Politics, she narrated the Emmy nominated 3-part documentary, Dismantling Democracy which aired nationally on PBS stations in the final weeks of the 2020 election and is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

Prior to joining UVA,  Setmayer was named as a Harvard Institute of Politics Spring 2020 Resident Fellow. In January 2020, she joined The Lincoln Project as a senior advisor and co-hosted the live show "The Breakdown" , on the organization's streaming channel, LPTV until her departure in June 2024.

After spending 27 years with the Republican Party, Setmayer publicly left the GOP in November 2020 after Donald Trump refused to concede the election to Joe Biden after losing the electoral vote. She now identifies as a conservative independent.

From 2006 to 2013, Setmayer worked in the U.S. House of Representatives as the Communications Director for the Republican Representative of California's 48th District, during which she handled immigration and federal law enforcement policy issues, and led the successful national effort to free Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean through a presidential commutation.

Setmayer focuses her "tell it like it is" commentary and analysis on political issues that impact America's democracy. During the 2016 presidential election cycle, she earned the reputation of being an outspoken conservative critic of Donald Trump and challenged his surrogates on the veracity of their claims. Vulture.com recognized her as one of 2016's "Top 20 Election Coverage Stars" on TV. She continued her fierce commentary and pro-democracy advocacy during the 2020 election to help support the election of President Joe Biden and defeat Donald Trump. Her pro-democracy work and advocacy on behalf of women continues through her organization The Seneca Project.