In 2009, Maloney served as research consultant for Republican nominees in all four statewide campaigns being contested, including the successful gubernatorial efforts of
Chris Christie in New Jersey and
Bob McDonnell in Virginia.[7]
A veteran of more than 30 years of politics, Maloney has worked for nine presidential campaigns and dozens of races for Senate, Governor, Congress, Legislature, Supreme Court and downticket offices. A native of
Los Angeles, he began his research career in 1983, doing
opposition research for
Ed Rollins and
Lee Atwater at the Reagan-Bush '84 re-election campaign. He holds a B.A. in journalism and political science from the
University of Southern California and a D.Phil. in politics from
Oriel College, Oxford, UK.[8] In 1989, he edited and compiled The Almanac of 1988 Presidential Politics for the Campaign Hotline.[9] In 1990, he incited a controversy over his research of
Clayton Williams, a candidate for
Governor of Texas.[10][11] Maloney was reported to have contacted the ex-wife of a Williams staffer, and asked her "inappropriate" questions about Williams's drinking habits.[12][13][14] Despite news coverage of this gaffe, Maloney was not fired from his job as the director of strategy and research at the
National Republican Congressional Committee.[15][16] (The Williams campaign later hired Maloney to continue his research on their candidate.)
Maloney lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and three children. He was featured briefly in the 2003 HBO series on political lobbyists, K Street, agreeing to conduct research at the behest of a lobbyist.[17]