Mark Preston is Vice President of Political & Special Events Programming and a Senior Political Analyst for CNN Worldwide.

An award-winning journalist, Preston has crisscrossed the nation for 30 years chronicling the dramatic changes in U.S. politics and reporting on the most important stories of the day, from the historic Bush v. Gore presidential election to Barack Obama’s groundbreaking presidency and the rise, fall, and rise again of President Donald Trump.

His on-the-ground reporting from the U.S. Capitol during critical moments: September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, October 2001 anthrax attack, and the January 6, 2021 insurrection – has made him a prominent voice in understanding the nation’s evolving political landscape. He appears as a non-partisan senior political analyst across all CNN platforms.

For two decades, Preston has led the negotiations for CNN’s primetime political and live programming specials, successfully bringing to air more than 30 presidential debates including the groundbreaking “CNN YouTube Presidential Primary Debates” in 2007 and the historic “CNN General Election Debate” in 2024.

Respected by leaders in both political parties, Preston helped broker terms for the final Republican presidential primary debate in January 2024 between former Ambassador Nikki Haley and Governor Ron DeSantis, and the final Democratic presidential primary debate between then-former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders on the eve of the 2020 covid shutdown. In June 2024, he played a key role in helping to secure and produce the historic general election debate between Biden and Trump.

In May 2026, Preston negotiated and helped produce the widely praised seven-candidate California gubernatorial primary debate — a pivotal moment in the race to lead the world’s fourth-largest economy.

Preston also is a senior member of the team that successfully transformed traditional one-hour political specials into highly rated, multi-hour town halls, and multi-night presidential debates that often resulted in significant news.

In 2016, responding to voter’s desire for more access to the presidential candidates, Preston played a central role in developing the CNN Town Hall. He has since negotiated terms and produced more than 180 town halls that have featured U.S. presidents, House speakers, members of Congress, cabinet secretaries, business leaders and political candidates facing live questions from constituents, stakeholders and voters. Following the 2016 presidential election, Mediate named Preston one of the most influential people in the news media.

While focused primarily on politics, Preston has also helped to diversify CNN’s live programming by working with a small team to create culturally relevant and timely primetime specials such as “The Fourth in America,” entering its sixth year of production in 2026; CNN’s high school graduation specials during the first two years of the covid pandemic; “Stand Up: The Students of Stoneman Douglas Demand Action,” a discussion between victims, lawmakers and the NRA seven days after 17 people were killed in 2018; and “Live from the Capitol: January 6th, One Year Later” – a two-hour conversation between police officers, lawmakers, staff, and family impacted by the U.S. Capitol insurrection.

Preston also worked closely with Clive and Doug Davis on the “We Love NYC Homecoming Concert” in 2021; with Live Nation Urban to produce “Juneteenth: A Global Celebration of Freedom,” a live special that aired from the Hollywood Bowl in 2022 and the Greek Theatre in 2023; with The Kennedy Center to air “The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor” honoring Adam Sandler in 2023; and with 9/11 Day to produce “Shine A Light: the 20-year Remembrance of 9/11.”

In 2025, Preston negotiated the rights to air the 40th Anniversary of Farm Aid that featured legendary performers Willie Nelson, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Dave Matthews, among dozens of other A-List musicians convened in Minnesota to bring attention to the plight of the American farmer.

A Peabody Award winner, Preston is also a four-time Emmy Award winner/ 11x nominations; a Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in TV Political Journalism winner; an i-3 Mirror Award winner; a National Headliner Award winner; and the recipient of multiple Webby Awards and Georgia Freedom of Information reporting awards.

Preston cut his teeth in political journalism in Georgia by covering then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the General Assembly and county government for the Marietta Daily Journal. At this time, he also worked as a stringer for The Associated Press and Reuters for stories such as Jon Benet Ramsey’s murder, Eric Rudolph’s bombing of a suburban-Atlanta abortion clinic, and Speaker Gingrich. After relocating to Washington to serve as a States News Service correspondent for several Florida, Massachusetts and Nevada newspapers, Preston moved to Roll Call and spent six years sharpening his reporting as a Capitol Hill correspondent.

Prior to being named a vice president in 2018, Preston served CNN in multiple editorial and programming roles, including political director, executive editor of CNN Politics, and executive director of Political Programming. In addition to his television work, Preston hosted two political talk shows on SiriusXM POTUS 124 from 2016 to 2023.

A much sought after political expert, Preston has been a featured speaker, moderator and panelist at prestigious idea-generating venues, including the Aspen Ideas Festival, The George Washington Presidential Library and The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum; as well as appearing as a guest speaker before audiences at American University, The Citadel, George Mason University, Harvard University, New England College, Stanford University and the University of South Carolina.

He holds a B.A. in journalism and history from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and has been selected multiple times as a media fellow by Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.