Jonathan Heppner is a Senior Vice President at SKDK, serving clients from the firm’s New York City and Albany offices. He brings more than a decade of experience leading high-stakes public affairs, legislative communications, and advocacy campaigns across New York State, with a focus on navigating complex political, regulatory, and policy environments.
Prior to joining SKDK, Heppner served as Deputy Communications Director for the New York State Senate Democratic Majority Conference under Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. In that role, he helped lead the chamber’s communications operation, press strategy, crisis response, and proactive media narratives around major legislative priorities. He previously served as the Conference’s Statewide Press Secretary and has been at the center of many of the state’s most consequential policy debates.
Heppner has also advised and led communications for competitive races across New York State. Earlier in his career, he served as Majority Leader of the Ulster County Legislature, becoming the youngest and longest-serving Democratic Majority Leader in the county’s history. There, he helped negotiate multiple county budgets exceeding $400 million and led messaging around investments in housing, infrastructure, climate resilience, and public services, giving him firsthand experience in governing, coalition-building, and public accountability.
Heppner has been recognized by City & State as a 40 Under 40 Rising Star in New York State.
Born and raised in Woodstock and New York’s Catskill Mountains, Heppner attended Manhattanville University. He worked as a staffer in Virginia on President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign and previously served as a press intern in the Capitol Hill office of the late Congressman Charles Rangel. He began his professional career as a local journalist with the Woodstock Times in the Hudson Valley.
