MAX HERRLE

Herrle is a North Florida Democratic public strategy consultant spanning multiple disciplines.

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Beginning his career as a 'bird dogging' political tracker on behalf of the Florida Education Association 501c4 targeting anti-union members of the Florida legislature including Matt Gaetz, who was then a member of the Florida House, Herrle's career in politics has always been unafraid of the conflict of ideas in politics.

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As a field organizer for Gwen Graham for Congress (2014), he was trained on the OFA field model, running a three-county volunteer program, including running a successful volunteer program out of an abandoned trailer in Gulf County, a public library in Calhoun County, and an RV in Bay County. Despite being in the deep-red territory, he would run the highest phone contact program of Graham's successful 2014 campaign for congress, one of the two congressional races nationwide in 2014 to flip a red seat blue.

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After the conclusion of the 2016 Democratic Primary, Herrle managed a multi-million dollar paid canvass program for a super-PAC supporting Hillary Clinton.

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As a public relations consultant, he has represented the American Civil Liberties Union and a medley of crisis communications clients including public figures, municipalities responding to public crises, and government whistleblowers.

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Beginning in 2016, Herrle managed a statewide grassroots lobbying initiative for Anheuser-Busch InBev for the successful passage of the 2018 Glassware bill. He has lobbied for ABC Liquors and the Florida Independent Spirits Association at the state level, preventing the passage of 'the wall' bill, which successfully denied Wal-Mart the right to sell liquor inside stores.  In 2017, Herrle ran a multi-million dollar paid canvass operation to oppose Miami Beach Mayor Phillip Levine's effort to restrict Miami Beach nightlife establishments' hours of operation. Herrle also successfully defeated City Commissioner Gil Ziffer and former Mayor Scott Maddox's repeated efforts in 2016 to predatorily target Coliseum Nightclub and Bajas Nightclub from unfair regulations at the request of one of their major campaign contributors.

Those efforts to protect Tallahassee businesses led to the creation of the Tallahassee Bar & Hospitality Association which fought back numerous attempts by Ziffer and Maddox to unfairly combat Tallahassee's vibrant downtown, the association grew to represent more than thirty iconic and historic Tallahassee nightlife establishments. His Leon County local advocacy includes the creation of Tallahassee's e-scooter pilot program, a successful program that still exists today.

In his hometown of Tallahassee, Herrle has fought to protect our existing neighborhoods against development special interests, including Summerbrooke and Killearn Estates homeowners associations.  

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An experienced field operative, Herrle excels at the intersection of how data and analytics help inform public messaging. Herrle has an undefeated political track record in the City of Tallahassee and Leon County. Managing numerous political funds which do not accept funds from development or establishment interests, he works to elect and support reform-minded progressive candidates who support everyday people, not special interests.

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In 2021, Herrle helped launch OurTallahassee.com, a progressive new media outlet for North Florida, covering North Florida local governments and politics.

A lifelong Tallahassee resident, he grew up on Buck Lake Road and lives in Tallahassee’s Downtown.

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Fellowships

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• New Leader's Council Fellow (2016)

• New Leader's Council Tallahassee Board of Directors (2017-2019)

• Knight Creative Communities Institute Fellow (2015)

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