Marc Abanto was born on January 9th, 1986 at Norwalk Hospital in Norwalk, Connecticut. He was supposed to be a Christmas baby, but he is happy with his late start because it means double the presents every winter.
Marc spent most of his childhood in Fairfield, Connecticut. His father, Fernando, is a Finance Analyst working in New York City. His mother, Amanda, was a stay-at-home mom, who later became an interior designer and furniture salesperson after Marc grew up.
Marc enjoyed a variety of activities as a youngster. He played baseball, basketball, and soccer. The greatest moment of Marc's childhood was becoming the first 4th grader to ever make his school's Varsity soccer team. He would later captain his basketball and soccer teams, which sounds a lot less impressive when you learn that Marc's 8th grade class had 11 people in it. Marc also loved watching sports. He is an avid fan of the New York Yankees, New York Rangers, New York Knicks, San Francisco 49ers, and Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Additionally, Marc was a Cub Scout and even tried acting. Marc wishes he had received adequate recognition for his 6th grade role as Merlin in his school's Winter Festival play.
In high school, Marc excelled in the school's Model United Nations team, was the head lighting technician in the Theater Tech club, and was involved in Student Government all four years, including spending his senior year as President. He even dabbled in acting again as Pirate #2 in a production of Pirates of Penzance.
High school was also when Marc's love of politics grew to the level that it is at today. He began his college search knowing that he was interested in majoring in Political Science.
After an extensive search, Marc chose to take his talents to The George Washington University in Washington, DC. In college, Marc spent two semesters as a Capitol Hill intern. He also spent three years in the GW Student Association. He even ran for President during the spring semester of his junior year, but lost in the run-off. He has completely gotten over that devastating defeat. To date, Marc remains a proud member of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity.
After spending his first spring break at home in Connecticut, Marc realized there was no way he could spend an entire summer away from the city he loved. He decided to intern for a local political campaign in Alexandria, Virginia. He had no idea how big of an impact that decision would have on his life.
After helping to guide David Englin to a victory in the Democratic Primary for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, Marc was hooked on campaign politics. Over the next two years he would work as a field organizer for the Maryland Democratic Coordinated Campaign and the Greg Galligan for State Senate campaign. He also worked as a Teaching Assistant for a GW Summer Scholars course on Campaign Politics.
Marc began his professional career as an Account Associate for Webstrong Group. In 2009, he managed the successful Kaye Kory for Delegate Democratic Primary campaign and later served as a GOTV Coordinator for the Virginia Democratic Coordinated Campaign. In 2010, he managed the Jeff Barnett for Congress campaign.
Now, Marc is hoping to find a job that will allow him to utilize the skills he has honed over the course of his professional career. He wants to continue helping Democratic candidates get elected, and to further the progressive cause.
Marc currently resides in Arlington, VA with his roommate and his cat, Layla. He has a girlfriend, and they both really want to get a dog. He still enjoys sports, and also likes pub trivia, playing kickball, karaoke, trips home to see his family, and catching up on all of the great television shows he has missed over the past several years.
