Who We Are

J.J. Balaban has been an ad maker and strategist for 24 years, writing and creating television ads for Democratic campaigns in 36 states, 84 Congressional districts, and 121 media markets. A graduate of Princeton University, J.J. served as a Congressional press secretary and worked on various political campaigns prior to starting his career as an ad maker.

J.J. is the only ad maker in the nation to have made the hard-side ads that helped defeat incumbent Republican Members of Congress in both 2022 and 2024. His candidate and independent expenditure ads have helped elect Governors, U.S. Senators, U.S. Representatives, Attorneys-General, and Mayors. He has created independent expenditure ads for various organizations, including the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Giffords, NRDC Action Votes, and 314 PAC.

J.J.’s work has helped make American politics more inclusive. He made the ads that helped elect the nation’s first openly gay Governor (Jared Polis of Colorado), the first openly gay Attorney-General (Maura Healey of Massachusetts), the first Black openly gay U.S. Representative (Mondaire Jones of New York), and the first U.S. Representative who is trans (Sarah McBride of Delaware). J.J.’s work was hailed by the Washington Post and MSNBC’s Hardball as the best ad of the cycle, and by Time Magazine as the second best ad of the cycle.

J.J. lives in Philadelphia with his wife—a pediatric neurologist—and their 10-year-old daughter. ‍