Remembering Lance Copsey

LANCE COPSEY, a prominent Republican political consultant, passed away June 13 at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore after suffering a stroke. He was 40 years old.
In a statement released shortly after Copsey’s death, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said all at the RNC were “deeply saddened” by the passing of their “dear friend.”
“I valued his advice and counsel,” Steele said in the statement. “Lance could always cut through the noise and provide well-thought-out insight.”
Copsey became a political force early on in his career. He was the executive director of the Maryland Republican Party in the mid-1990s, and quickly broke into national politics as the northeast political director of Sen. Lamar Alexander’s (R-Tenn.) 1996 presidential campaign.
It wasn’t long before Copsey took on international politics as the president of the Foundation for the Promotion of Democracy. The nonprofit foundation, created in 2000, helps emerging democracies abroad by providing resources and advertising to candidates running on democratic platforms.
Since 2004, Copsey and FPD had been working in Iran and the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, providing opinion research, election monitoring, and several broadcast and political advertisement campaigns.
Along with his efforts to promote democracy abroad, Copsey also had an interest in raising awareness about human trafficking. In 2005, Copsey received a Telly Award for a short documentary which he produced, directed, and edited. His film, “From Bondage to Joy,” details the efforts of Shared Hope International in their quest to raise awareness about human trafficking and the sex trade. He also won a second Telly Award for a music video he directed and produced for recording artist Natalie Grant, which features a song she wrote for victims of the sex trade in India.
Most recently, Copsey served as the vice president of Marsh Copsey and Associates and headed up the company’s international division. He also worked as a consultant on the advertising team for the National Republican Congressional Committee in the last four election cycles.
Copsey’s career was a grand legacy within itself, but it was his devotion to his family and to his work that makes this sudden loss hard for many.
Copsey leaves behind a wife, Jenny, and two daughters. “Nothing demonstrated Lance’s love of life more than his love for and his pride in his family,” said Steele’s statement. “Lance has left us all too soon.”