CatholicVote has named Kelsey Reinhardt its new president effective June 19, following the appointment of the organization’s co-founding leader, Brian Burch, as U.S. ambassador to the Holy See.
Reinhardt was previously the director of media and evangelization projects for CatholicVote, a national Catholic advocacy organization.
Before joining CatholicVote, Reinhardt served as executive director for the ACI group, an international network of news agencies operated by EWTN News (CNA’s parent company). Prior to her work with EWTN, Reinhardt had professed temporary vows with the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia. She holds a bachelor’s in theology from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, and a master’s in theology from the Augustine Institute in St. Louis. She also worked as a legislative correspondent for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on immigration and refugee issues.
“I could not be more excited to serve such a noble cause,” Reinhardt said, according to CatholicVote. “Under Brian Burch’s fearless and Christ-centered leadership, CatholicVote has become one of the largest and most effective Catholic advocacy organizations in the country, making a difference in media, politics, law and education.”
“The energy unleashed by the election of the first American pope provides American Catholics with the historic opportunity to look at our faith with gratitude and commit to incarnate that same faith with unprecedented energy and joy in the public square,” she added.
Reinhardt comes to the position as Burch, who served as the organization’s president for 17 years, awaits Senate confirmation. CatholicVote had previously indicated that Burch would step down as president if confirmed by the Senate.
Senate Democrats blocked Burch’s confirmation last month, stalling the process ahead of Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural Mass. Senate Republicans had called for Burch’s nomination to be expedited through unanimous consent alongside the rest of President Trump’s ambassadorial nominees, but Democrats rejected the effort, forcing an individual vote on each nominee, including Burch, whose final confirmation vote is still pending.
