Erik Telford

Media Contact
media(at)commonwealthfoundation.org

Request an Interview Headshot

Erik Telford

Senior Vice President of Public Affairs

Erik Telford is the Senior Vice President of Public Affairs at the Commonwealth Foundation.

Erik is a senior public affairs and communications executive with more than 15 years of diverse experience across public policy, advocacy, and public affairs institutions. Before joining the Commonwealth Foundation, Erik served as the senior vice president at Stand Together Communications, the Koch network’s marketing and communications capability. Erik has also served as the president of the Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity, a state-based watchdog journalism organization. And at Americans for Prosperity, he was the executive director of RightOnline (an initiative he founded) and the director of membership and online strategy. He is currently on the board of the American Commitment Foundation.

In 2013, Campaigns & Elections Magazine honored Erik as an “Advocacy Innovator” and in 2011 as a “Rising Star in American Politics.”  Politics Online named him one of the “Top 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics.” 

Regulation

Mailbag: Booze Q’s

  • Matthew Brouillette, Nathan Benefield
  • March 20, 2013

As legislation to get government out of the booze business is debated in the state House, CF‘s mailbox is overflowing with questions about liquor liberty! You asked, we answered: Q:…

Media

Read More: Mailbag: Booze Q’s

Regulation

What’s in New Liquor Liberty Bill?

  • March 18, 2013

Rep. Mike Turzai’s liquor store privatization bill, HB 790, heads to the House floor after successfully passing amended out of committee today. While the amendment changed the bill significantly, it…

Media

Read More: What’s in New Liquor Liberty Bill?

Regulation

The Sun Rises on Liquor Liberty

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • March 18, 2013

It wasn’t a typical Monday morning for me or the dozen citizen-patriots and CF team members that stood together in an empty hallway, outside a hearing room in the Capitol…

Media

Read More: The Sun Rises on Liquor Liberty

Public Union Democracy

Temper Tantrums Taint Liquor Debate

  • March 15, 2013

My four-year old niece likes to get her own way. When things going south—she has to take a nap, or worse, Dora the Explorer is over—no matter how much you…

Media

Read More: Temper Tantrums Taint Liquor Debate

Regulation

Privatization Could End “Pay-to-Play”

  • Priya Brannick
  • March 15, 2013

“A culture of greed, corruption and political influence that is beyond imagination,” is how State Police Commissioner Frank Noonan described the latest Pennsylvania Turnpike scandal, which has led to…

Media

Read More: Privatization Could End “Pay-to-Play”

Health Care

Sequester-Sized Savings

  • Elizabeth Stelle
  • March 15, 2013

We’ve already busted the myth that federal money for the expansion of Medicaid is somehow “free.” As Nathan Benefield explains, government only distributes what if first taxes out of…

Media

Read More: Sequester-Sized Savings

Taxes & Economy

FrackNation Exposes Gasland Lies

  • Gordon Tomb
  • March 14, 2013

“FrackNation” is not only about the development of natural gas, but also about journalism, says Phelim McAleer, co-director of the 70-minute documentary. Shown this week to about 70…

Media

Read More: FrackNation Exposes Gasland Lies

Public Union Democracy

Goliath, Drunk on Power—and On the Move!

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • March 13, 2013

What does a Middle Eastern battlefield from biblical times have to do with where you buy your booze? Actually, quite a lot. At the Commonwealth Foundation, we call the government…

Media

Read More: Goliath, Drunk on Power—and On the Move!

Education

Do Cyber Schools Spend Too Much?

  • Priya Brannick
  • March 13, 2013

With the House Education Committee set to consider new legislation on reducing cyber school funding, the discussion has turned again to how much cyber schools “actually” cost and…

Media

Read More: Do Cyber Schools Spend Too Much?

Regulation

Mow the Lawn…TODAY!

  • Matthew Brouillette
  • March 12, 2013

When it comes to privatizing the Pennsylvania’s government-run monopoly of wine and spirits, many politicians say they are in favor of it—including House Liquor Committee Chairman John Taylor (R-Philadelphia). But…

Media

Read More: Mow the Lawn…TODAY!

Regulation

Desperate Times, Desperate Claims

  • Nathan Benefield
  • March 8, 2013

UFCW President Wendell Young is so desperate to retain Pennsylvania’s 80-year old government liquor monopoly that he’ll say anything.  Most recently, he claimed “privateers” were hacking an online poll…

Media

Read More: Desperate Times, Desperate Claims