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Faiz Shakir
 Former campaign manager 2020 Sanders presidential campaign 2020 presidential campaign staff | ||
Affiliation: Democratic | ||
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Faiz Shakir is the former campaign manager for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-Vt.) 2020 presidential campaign. Before joining Sanders' campaign, Shakir was the national political director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). He also served as an advisor to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and was a vice president at the Center for American Progress (CAP).[1]
On January 15, 2025, Shakir announced his campaign for chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Click here to read more.
Career
Shakir began his political career as a junior research staffer for John Kerry’s (D) 2004 presidential campaign.[2] From 2005 until 2012, he worked as the vice president for communications at CAP.[1][3] While at CAP, Shakir was instrumental in launching the news site ThinkProgress, where he was editor-in-chief.[2][4]
In 2012, Shakir joined Pelosi's office and served as a senior advisor and director of digital media.[1][3] From 2013 until 2017, he was a senior advisor to Reid.[1] Shakir worked in an unofficial capacity on Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign.[3]
In 2017, he became the national political director of the ACLU, where he served until 2019.[1]
Shakir graduated with a B.A. in government from Harvard University in 2002.[5]
Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign
Campaign strategy
First Democratic primary debate
On June 20, 2019, Vanity Fair ran a piece on Sanders' strategy for the first Democratic primary debate in which Shakir said, "He’s not going to engage in mudslinging, but there are at least four areas where he’s raised policy disagreements with Joe Biden: the Iraq war, trade deals, climate change, health care. Tepid middle-ground status quo politics is failing the American public. We’ll see that play out in the debate." The piece concluded with Shakir stating, "I believe strongly that the vast majority of people have not yet checked into this primary. ... I think it’ll start getting real in the winter, particularly if you’re a campaign that’s invested in mobilizing working people. Bernie doesn’t win if that mobilization does not occur."[6]
Organization
Status Coup interviewed Shakir for an article published on June 11, 2019. Shakir said, "A lot of the movement that was generated in 2015 and 2016 is still strong and growing stronger, but this time, and this campaign, you’re also seeing far more organization happening earlier in the schedule. ... This time around you’re seeing heightened levels of volunteer activity at an earlier point in time..."[7]
Communications strategy
An AP profile of the campaign's media strategy quoted Shakir, who stated, "We are doing these livestreams, we are talking to you directly. ... One of the reasons is while we appreciate our friends in the elite media, they don’t often cover the issues that truly matter to working Americans."[8]
Key staff members
The table below shows a sampling of the candidate's 2020 national campaign staff members, including the campaign manager and some senior advisors, political directors, communication directors, and field directors. It also includes each staff member's position in the campaign, previous work experience, and Twitter handle, where available.[9] For a larger list of national campaign staff, visit Democracy in Action.
| Bernie Sanders presidential campaign national staff, 2020 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Staff | Position | Prior experience | Twitter handle |
| Faiz Shakir | Campaign manager | National political director, American Civil Liberties Union | @fshakir |
| Jeff Weaver | Senior advisor | Campaign manager, Bernie Sanders for President of the United States, 2016 | N/A |
| Chuck Rocha | Senior advisor | Advisor, Bernie Sanders for President of the United States, 2016 | @ChuckRocha |
| Analilia Mejia | Political director | Director, New Jersey Working Families Alliance | N/A |
| Claire Sandberg | Organizing director | Deputy campaign manager, Abdul El-Sayed for Governor of Michigan, 2018 | @clairesandberg |
| Becca Rast | National field director | Campaign manager, Jess King for Congress, 2018 | @beccarast |
| René Spellman | Deputy campaign manager | Executive, CAA Foundation | N/A |
| Arianna Jones | Deputy campaign manager and communications director | Senior vice president of PR, Revolution Messaging | @ariannaijones |
| Ari Rabin-Havt | Deputy campaign manager and chief of staff | Deputy chief of staff, office of Sen. Bernie Sanders | @AriRabinHavt |
| Briahna Joy Gray | National press secretary | Columnist and political editor, The Intercept, Contributing editor, Current Affairs | @briebriejoy |
Media
This section contains media coverage, interviews, and profiles of Shakir.
Videos
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Interviews and profiles
- MSNBC, "Inside Bernie Sanders’ debate strategy," June 27, 2019
- Cuomo Prime Time with Chris Cuomo, "Interview with Faiz Shakir," June 25, 2019
- Payday Report, "Bernie’s Campaign Manager Faiz Shakir Talks Baseball and the Immigrant Experience," March 25, 2019
- India Abroad, "Pakistani-American Faiz Shakir named Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign manager," February 21, 2019
- Medium, "The ACLU’s Faiz Shakir on student activism, Islamophobia, and immigrant political participation," March 9, 2018
- Brown Political Review, "BPR Interviews: Faiz Shakir," January 8, 2018
- OZY, "The 'Rock Star' Activist Leading the Resistance," August 1, 2017
See also
- Sample Ballot Lookup
- Bernie Sanders
- Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, 2020
- Bernie Sanders presidential campaign staff, 2020
- Presidential candidates, 2020
- Presidential campaign managers, 2020
- John Kerry
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Democracy in Action, "Bernie 2020," accessed August 21, 2019
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 OZY, "The 'Rock Star' Activist Leading the Resistance," August 1, 2017
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 heavy., "Faiz Shakir, Bernie Sanders’ Campaign Manager: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know," February 19, 2019
- ↑ ACLU, "Faiz Shakir," accessed August 21, 2019
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Faiz Shakir," accessed August 21, 2019
- ↑ Vanity Fair, "Bernie's Campaign Manager Previews His Debate Strategy," June 20, 2019
- ↑ Status Coup, "Bernie Sanders Campaign Manager Faiz Shakir on Skewed Polls, Corporate Media Conflicts," June 11, 2019
- ↑ AP, "Bernie Sanders thinks media is unfair, so he created his own," July 23, 2019
- ↑ Democracy in Action, "Organization," accessed November 4, 2019
