Lorraine Voles

Lorraine Ann Voles (born January 15, 1959) is an American political advisor who served as chief of staff to the vice president of the United States under Kamala Harris from 2022 to 2025.

Lorraine Voles
Voles in 2023
Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States
In office May 16, 2022 – January 20, 2025
Vice President	Kamala Harris
Preceded by	Hartina Flournoy
Succeeded by	Jacob Reses
Communications Director for the Vice President
In office November 8, 1993 – December 4, 1997
Vice President	Al Gore
Preceded by	Marla Romash
Succeeded by	Larry Haas
White House Deputy Press Secretary
In office January 25, 1993 – November 8, 1993 Serving with Arthur Jones
President	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Michael Busch
Succeeded by	Ginny Terzano
Personal details
Born	(1959-01-15) January 15, 1959 (age 66) New York City, New York, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Daniel Smith ​ (m. 1992)​
Education	George Washington University (BA, MA)

Education

Voles's father is Joseph A. Voles, from Cambridge, Massachusetts.^[1]

Voles earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and a Master of Arts in organizational leadership from the George Washington University.^[2]

Career

Voles worked for the Walter Mondale 1984 presidential campaign and Michael Dukakis 1988 presidential campaign. She also worked as a project manager for the Natural Resources Defense Council and served as deputy White House press secretary during the first year of the Clinton administration.^[3] She also worked as press secretary for Iowa senator Tom Harkin.^[1] From 1993 to 1997, she served as director of communications for Vice President Al Gore.^[4][5] From 1998 to 2006, Voles worked as an independent communications consultant for organizations including Porter Novelli, the Smithsonian Institution, EMILY's List, and the Democratic National Committee. In 2006 and 2007, she served as director of communications for then-Senator Hillary Clinton. From 2007 to 2009, she was the senior vice president of Fannie Mae for communications and marketing.^[6] She was also the vice president of George Washington University for external relations from 2009 to 2020.^[7][8] In the summer of 2021, Voles joined the Office of the Vice President of the United States as a senior advisor and was promoted to chief of staff in April 2022.^[9][10]

Personal life

In 1992, Voles married Daniel Edward Smith, a lawyer and native of Buffalo Center, Iowa. Smith worked for the Al Gore 1988 presidential campaign, American Cancer Society, and various members of the United States Senate before founding an independent consulting firm.^[1][11]