Early in his career, he rotated between senior legislative roles, primarily in the Senate, and campaign leadership. He served as Chief of Staff to two U.S. Senators, Connie Mack of Florida, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee. In politics, Bainwol ran two successful Senate races and later was chief of staff to the RNC and Director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2002 when Republicans reclaimed the majority after 9/11.
Following his Senate service, Bainwol was chief executive officer for two industries undergoing significant transformation. He ran the music labels organization – the RIAA - post-Napster as that sector moved from plastic to digital and ownership to access, before joining the premier automobile manufacturer trade group as that industry began its evolution to autonomy, electrification, connectivity and new models of access.
After sixteen years of association leadership in Washington, Bainwol went in-house with Ford Motor Company where he was Chief Global Government Relations Officer. Bainwol retired from Ford last year.
Mitch graduated from Georgetown University before earning an MBA from Rice University. After graduate school, he was recruited as a Presidential Management Fellow to the Office of Management and Budget during the Reagan Administration.
Bainwol lives in Clifton, Virginia and Stuart, Florida with his wife Susan, with whom he has three grown children.