Who We Are

Mary V. Hughes

President

Mary V. Hughes is a co-founder and President of Staton Hughes, a strategic communications and political consulting firm in San Francisco, California since 1989.

Hughes has directed campaigns and advised elected officials in contests resulting in a number of groundbreaking “firsts:” the first woman in US history to lead her Party in the Congress Speaker Nancy Pelosi; the first woman Superintendent of Schools in California Delaine Eastin; the first Latino Mayor of San Jose, California Ron Gonzales and the first open lesbian judge elected in the nation, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Donna Hitchens.

With the 2006 election of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords of Tucson, Staton Hughes continues its successful effort to convert Republican-held congressional seats in the west for Democrats, including Congress Members Anna Eshoo, Mike Thompson, Ellen Tauscher and Susan Davis.

Staton Hughes also produces direct mail for federal and state candidates, Party and advocacy organizations including the DCCC, The California and Arizona Democratic Parties and EMILY’s List among others.

Mary V. Hughes is a contributor to the Governors Project guidebook series “Keys to the Governors Office” and “Win the Right Way,” collected essays on political strategy. Hughes, a former Executive Director of the California Democratic Party, is a frequent lecturer on campaigning. She has published op-eds and book reviews related to American politics and recently provided technical advice regarding campaigns to a British playwright. In 2006, EMERGE, a national campaign-training program that prepares Democratic women to run for public office named Hughes their Woman of the Year.

Hughes is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law and Mt. Holyoke College. She lives with her husband in Palo Alto, California.

Cliff Staton

Founding Partner

First drawn to politics through the anti-nuclear movement in the late 1970s, Cliff Staton has channeled his interests in environmental, education and social justice issues to become one of California’s leading direct mail and media relations strategists – crafting winning campaign messages for hundreds of candidates, non-profit organizations, public libraries and labor unions.

Since founding Staton Hughes in 1989, Cliff devised the successful national media and political strategy for the Screen Actors Guild in their 2000 commercial contract strike; helped design Delaine Eastin’s campaign to become California’s first woman superintendent of public schools (1994 and 1998); managed the media relations efforts for the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations (1995) and the 50th Anniversary of the US-Japan Peace Treaty (2001); and wrote and produced direct mail to help pro-choice Democrats take five swing Congressional seats from Republicans.

Prior to establishing the firm, Staton was Editorial Director and Vice President of The Kamber Group, then Washington DC’s largest independent public relations firm. His principal clients included the United Food and Commercial Workers, the Communications Workers of America and the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO.

Staton received his Master’s degree from the LBJ School of Public Affairs and completed his undergraduate work at Indiana University. He lives in San Francisco with his wife Elizabeth Ozer and their three children.

Adam Byrnes

Adam honed his political skills organizing protests for affordable college tuition, conducting media relations for a City Council member, staffing members of Congress and the California State Senate, managing canvassers to raise money for the Democratic National Committee, and giving his life to a Mayoral campaign.

Staton Hughes’ newest addition, Adam recently served in the City Council office of San Jose’s Vice Mayor Cindy Chavez and played an active part in her campaign for Mayor. Among other roles, he managed the Vice Mayor’s media relations and community outreach. Adam was graduated from the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs in San Francisco where he worked on a variety of projects for private, public, and non-profit organizations. Not surprisingly, his favorite work as a Fellow was managing GOTV volunteers for the successful Ira Ruskin for Assembly campaign.

In his spare time, Adam can be found at one of the Bay Area’s independent movie theatres, exploring new restaurants with friends, or perusing his local bookstore.

Mircalla Wozniak

Mircalla Wozniak is a native San Franciscan who prides herself on having gone door-to-door in such diverse locations as Huron, South Dakota, New Iberia, Louisiana, and Reading, Pennsylvania – just to name a few.

As an associate with Staton Hughes, Mircalla does research, strategy, and message development for candidates and progressive organizations. Prior to returning to California, she produced Democratic candidate television and radio spots at Murphy Putnam Media. In the 2003 cycle, Mircalla managed two state races, one in Bayonne, New Jersey, another in Woodbridge, Virginia. She’s also managed PAC events for the American Council of Engineering Companies, worked at Struble Oppel Eichenbaum coordinating dozens of campaigns’ media buys, was a field organizer in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and tweaked voter and finance databases at Aristotle, Inc.

Mircalla has a BA in Political Communication from The George Washington University. She is a founder and co-chair of the Good Ol’ Girls – a women’s networking group, sits on the Board of San Francisco Women’s Political Committee and is a San Francisco Urban and Planning Association member. Mircalla has been a guest lecturer for the Junior Statesmen of America and mentors younger political operatives through the New Leadership Council. She lives with her husband in the Mission district, has just taken up knitting, and enjoys yoga and black jack.

Strategic Partners

To better serve our clients when the needs of a project require additional resources, Staton Hughes draws on a talented team of strategic partners:

Eric Jaffe

Eric Jaffe is a president of Jaffe Public Strategies and a frequent partner on projects with Staton Hughes. He has 15 years of experience in elected government, political campaigns, and public affairs.

Jaffe learned to navigate Northern California's political waters from some of the region's most sought after political consultants: Staton Hughes, SCN Public Relations and Solem & Associates.

From 1994 to 1997, Jaffe advised Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan on federal policy from the state's office in Washington, DC. Jaffe also has experience on Capitol Hill, where he worked on policy for Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Rep. Pat Danner. He also served on the national advance staff for the 1992 Clinton-Gore campaign and helped with site planning for the 1992 Democratic National Convention.

Jaffe is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis. He lives in San
Francisco with his wife Brigit and son Milo.

Mary Leigh Henneberry

Mary Leigh Henneberry offers 17 years of graphic design and communications experience. She provides creative services for a wide range of clients that include non-profit organizations, retail, financial, public relations firms and political consultants.

Not restrained by a specific “style” or “look,” Mary Leigh’s work is both innovative and diverse. Focusing not only on the visual aspect of design, but on the strength of clear, concise communication, Mary Leigh develops creative solutions appropriate for each client.

Christine Stavem

Christine Stavem has spent more than 15 years working in media, politics and the public policy arena. Since 2000, she has frequently worked with Staton Hughes, directing campaigns for congressional candidates, local ballot measures and nonprofit organizations. She also is the co-author of the Governors Guidebook Series, and eight-year bipartisan research effort that identifies roadblocks to success for female gubernatorial candidates.

Most recently, Stavem was the Northern California director for Chris Dodd for President and the political director for Cindy Chavez for Mayor (San Jose). From 2004-2005, she was Chief of Staff to California First Lady Maria Shriver.

A top aide for Sen. Bill Bradley during the 2000 presidential election cycle, Stavem began her public policy career in 1990 as the founding senior associate of the Washington, DC-based Center for Public Integrity. A former journalist, she worked as the editor of several Washington-based publications before moving in 1996 to San Francisco to assume the role of publisher and executive editor at AlterNet, the news bureau for independently owned media. She holds an M.A. in journalism from the University of Arizona.

Patrick Hannan

For more than 10 years, Patrick Hannan has developed and implemented communication strategies, community outreach, government relations and marketing efforts for political campaigns, elected officials, and non-profit organizations. In this role, Patrick served as Press Secretary and Spokesman for San Jose Vice Mayor Cindy Chavez’s 2006 campaign for Mayor. Patrick also provides strategic counsel and planning for public/private partnerships from neighborhood endeavors to large public-benefit projects on San Francisco parkland.

Prior to forming Hannan Communications, Patrick spent four years as an Associate at Staton Hughes, a leading California campaign consulting firm, where he led press strategy and outreach for local and state political campaigns, including races for State Controller, San Francisco School Board and local ballot propositions. Patrick is a current member of the Board of Trustees for the San Francisco Parks Trust. He is a graduate of American University in Washington, D.C. and lives in San Francisco with his wife, Amber.