Don Gonyea

Although Don Gonyea is a NPR National Political Correspondent based in Washington, D.C., he spends much of his time traveling throughout the United States covering campaigns, elections, and the political climate throughout the country. His reports can be heard on all NPR programs and at NPR.org.

During the 2000 presidential campaign, Gonyea chronicled the controversial election and the ensuing legal recount battles in the courts. At the same time George W. Bush moved into the White House in 2001, Gonyea started as NPR's White House Correspondent. He was at the White House on the morning of September 11, 2001, providing live reports following the evacuation of the building.

As White House correspondent, Gonyea covered the Bush administration's prosecution of wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq and during the 2004 campaign he traveled with President Bush and Democratic nominee John Kerry. In November 2006, Gonyea co-anchored NPR's coverage of historic elections when Democrats captured control of both houses of the US Congress. In 2008, Gonyea was the lead reporter covering the entire Obama presidential campaign for NPR, from the Iowa caucuses to victory night in Chicago. He was also there when candidate Obama visited the Middle East and Europe. He continued covering the White House and President Barack Obama until spring 2010, when he moved into his current position.

Gonyea has filed stories from around the globe, including Moscow, Beijing, London, Islamabad, Doha, Budapest, Seoul, San Salvador, and Hanoi. He attended President Bush's first ever meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin in Slovenia in 2001, and subsequent, at times testy meetings between the two leaders in St. Petersburg, Shanghai and Bratislava. He also covered Mr.Obama's first trip overseas as president.

In 1986, Gonyea got his start at NPR reporting from Detroit on labor unions and the automobile industry. He spent countless hours on picket lines and in union halls covering strikes, including numerous lengthy work stoppages at GM in the late 1990s. Gonyea also reported on the development of alternative fuel and hybrid-powered automobiles, Dr. Jack Kevorkian's assisted-suicide crusade, and the 1999 closing of Detroit's classic Tiger Stadium — the ballpark of his youth.

Over the years Gonyea has contributed to PBS's NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, the BBC, CBC, AP Radio, and the Columbia Journalism Review. He periodically teaches college journalism courses.

Gonyea has won numerous national and state awards for his reporting. He was part of the team that earned NPR a 2000 George Foster Peabody Award for the All Things Considered series "Lost & Found Sound."

A native of Monroe, Michigan, Gonyea is an honors graduate of Michigan State University.

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4:58pm

Mon July 16, 2012
Presidential Race

Romney, Obama Question Each Other's Records

Originally published on Mon July 16, 2012 6:22 pm

President Obama answered questions from voters at a town-hall-style campaign event in Cincinnati on Monday. Meanwhile, his rival Mitt Romney suggested in a Fox News interview that the president's record should be subjected to greater scrutiny. The Romney campaign has spent the past several days responding to conflicting reports about when the former Massachusetts governor left the private equity firm Bain Capital.

5:09am

Fri July 13, 2012
Politics

NAACP Monitors Voter ID Laws

Originally published on Fri July 13, 2012 11:04 am

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Voting rights have been a big topic at this year's convention of the NAACP in Houston. Republicans across the country have been pushing for tougher voter I.D. laws, which the nation's oldest civil rights organization contends are aimed at hurting voter turnout among African-Americans. Yesterday, Vice President Joe Biden joined a long list of convention speakers addressing that issue, as NPR's Don Gonyea reports.

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5:02pm

Thu July 12, 2012
Presidential Race

After Romney Is Booed, Biden Is Cheered At NAACP

Originally published on Thu July 12, 2012 6:10 pm

Transcript

MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block. And we begin the hour with presidential politics in two venues, on stage and on screen. First, the stage. In Houston, Vice President Joe Biden addressed the annual gathering of the NAACP, the nation's oldest civil rights organization. Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, was booed at that meeting yesterday when he called for repeal of President Obama's health care law.

Today, Biden delivered a fiery defense. Here's NPR's Don Gonyea.

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5:40am

Thu July 12, 2012
Election 2012

NAACP Boos Romney's Pledge To Repeal Obamacare

Originally published on Thu July 12, 2012 12:21 pm

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning, I'm Renee Montagne.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And I'm Steve Inskeep.

Nobody can accuse the audience at the NAACP convention of sitting quietly yesterday. Republican Mitt Romney attended that conference.

MONTAGNE: He said he's willing to come back next to address the civil rights group, which a past Republican president, George W. Bush, often declined to do. Romney also promised to repeal President Obama's Affordable Care Act.

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4:33pm

Wed July 11, 2012
Presidential Race

Friendly Skepticism Greets Romney At NAACP

Originally published on Wed July 11, 2012 5:33 pm

Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney addressed the NAACP on Wednesday. Rather than reach for common ground, he touted his opposition to issues the group cares about deeply. Romney drew sustained boos when he called for repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

5:34am

Wed July 11, 2012
Election 2012

Romney Campaigns In Conservative Parts Of Colorado

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney is in Houston Wednesday to address a convention of the NAACP. On Tuesday, he was in Colorado, one of the most hotly contested swing states. Romney, who unexpectedly lost to Rick Santorum in the Colorado caucuses earlier this year, is working to shore up support among the GOP base

5:36pm

Fri June 29, 2012
Politics

Tea Party Sees Ruling As New Rallying Cry

Originally published on Fri June 29, 2012 10:26 pm

Some of the earliest and most vocal opponents of President Obama's health care law were members of the Tea Party. In fact, health care quickly became the issue fueling the rise of the movement.

Anger over the Affordable Care Act drove the Tea Party and Republicans to big gains in the 2010 elections, but since then the movement has seen its prominence and influence wane.

Now, Tea Party activists say the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the law will reignite that original passion in time for this fall's election.

Call For Repeal Continues

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5:23pm

Tue June 19, 2012
It's All Politics

With Polka Band And Pie, Romney Wraps Up Small-Town Tour In Michigan

Originally published on Fri June 29, 2012 4:00 pm

Credit Joe Raedle / Getty Images

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney wrapped up a five-day, six-state tour in Michigan on Tuesday.

Each of the states he visited was won by President Obama in the 2008 election. Each is also shaping up as a potential battleground this year.

In Michigan, the state where Romney was born, he avoided big cities and stayed in places friendly to the GOP. As he traveled east to west across central Michigan by bus, there were some pockets of protesters, but mostly at a distance.

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4:47pm

Tue May 29, 2012
It's All Politics

Fueled By Outside Money, Ad Blitz Hasn't Stopped For Weary Iowans

Originally published on Tue May 29, 2012 8:45 pm

6:18am

Sat May 12, 2012
Presidential Race

Iowa On Same-Sex Marriage: It's Complicated

Originally published on Sat May 12, 2012 9:17 pm

Credit Charlie Neibergall / AP

Immediately after President Obama announced his support this week for same-sex marriage, attention turned to politics. The outcome of this year's election will be determined by a handful of states — one of them is Iowa, where the politics of same-sex marriage are complicated.

Same-sex marriage is legal here, but three of the state Supreme Court justices upholding that 2009 decision were removed from office by voters a year later.

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