WASHINGTON—NABPAC, NAB’s political action committee, is getting in on the election year spirit, announcing that Chris Cornelius and Ben Downs have been voted by the NABPAC Board of Trustees to serve as the group’s co-chairs.
Cornelius is the director of business development at Morgan Murphy Media and will take over the role of NABPAC TV chair from Ralph Oakley, CEO of Quincy Media Inc. Downs, the vice president and general manage of Bryan Broadcasting Corporation, will be the radio chair, assuming that role from William McElveen, the regional president of Alpha Media. Cornelius and Downs’ terms are effective immediately.
Cornelius also currently serves on the NAB Television Board of Directors. Downs was a previous member of the NAB Radio Board of Directors.
Oakley and McElveen served in their roles with NABPAC from 2014 to 2019. During that time, total dollar contributions to NABPAC rose by almost one-third, while the number of donors grew by more than 50%, according to NAB. They both will remain as trustees for NABPAC.
“NABPAC plays an important role in supporting broadcast champions in Congress, and Ralph and Bill deserve enormous credit for their work in growing NABPAC’s voice on Capitol Hill,” said NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith. “America’s radio and TV broadcasters thank Ralph and Bill for their steady leadership of NABPAC, and we look forward to benefiting from Chris and Ben’s guidance.”
