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The Democratic National Committee’s political director is leaving — and heading to Silicon Valley

Raul Alvillar was the first Latino to hold that role in the party.

Raul Alvillar
Raul Alvillar
Raul Alvillar

The Democratic National Committee’s national political director is expected to step down Friday — likely to join the growing number of Washington, D.C., veterans migrating to Silicon Valley.

Raul Alvillar is in discussions with a number of tech companies, who are recruiting him for a government relations job. He’s leaving his role at the DNC to wrap up talks.

Political operatives like Alvillar are increasingly sought after in Silicon Valley as companies with disruptive technologies attempt to navigate regulatory issues.

Chris Lehane, the former Democratic strategist who waged political battles on behalf of the Clinton White House, serves as head of global policy at Airbnb. David Plouffe, a former adviser to President Obama, serves as Uber’s policy and strategy chief. Former White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer has joined GoFundMe.

Alvillar has deep connections, not only with political leaders and elected officials across the country, but also among the party’s political rank and file. He is the first Latino to serve as the DNC’s national political director and has been credited with modernizing the party’s operations so it has continuity (rather than starting fresh with every election cycle). He previously served as the White House’s liaison to the LGBT community.

Additional reporting by Kurt Wagner.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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