David Guenthner joined the Mackinac Center in 2018 as senior strategist for state affairs, building the Center’s first-ever government affairs capacity and managing the Center’s criminal justice policy portfolio. He was promoted to vice president of government affairs in 2023. He became the first executive director of Workers for Opportunity, the Mackinac Center’s multi-state labor policy initiative, in 2025.

David’s move to Michigan followed 11½ successful years at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. He was initially its director of media and government relations before being promoted to senior communications director in January 2011 and then to senior director for public affairs in August 2012.

From 1997 through 2003, Guenthner was managing editor of The Lone Star Report, a weekly insider newsletter devoted to Texas politics. The Austin American-Statesman said that “Guenthner led a staff known around the Capitol for its extensive knowledge of political and policy details and its passion for the nuances of the legislative process.” He also spent two years as a government relations liaison for the Texas Workforce Commission on economic development and prisoner re-entry programs.

He has appeared on the Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor” and on local talk programs in many Texas media markets. Channel NewsAsia, an international news channel based in Singapore, relied on him to explain the aftermath of the 2000 U.S. presidential election. He has been a commentator for NationalReview.com and The Hill, and quoted in national publications such as the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Atlantic Monthly, the National Journal, and the Southern Political Report, as well as daily and weekly newspapers across Texas.

The Austin American-Statesman selected him as a winner in its 2009 Texas Social Media Awards, which recognize innovation and outstanding achievement by Texans in the field of social media.

Beyond his role at Workers for Opportunity, Guenthner chairs the Lansing Center Right Meeting and co-chairs the Michigan Electoral College Coalition. He is a private sector member on the Task Force on Commerce, Insurance, and Economic Development for the American Legislative Exchange Council, having previously served three years on its Task Force on Criminal Justice. He served for almost five years as a Partner Advisor for the Michigan Justice Fund.

He is a graduate of the Atlas Network’s Executive Accelerator in 2020 and of Leadership Program of the Rockies in 2023.

Guenthner received his B.A. from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, with a double major in political science and speech communication and a minor in economics. He is a past president of Trinity’s Austin alumni chapter and a former state chairman of the Young Conservatives of Texas. He and his wife Jen live in the Lansing area.