John Hickenlooper presidential campaign staff, 2020
Date: November 3, 2020 |
 Donald Trump Joe Biden Howie Hawkins Jo Jorgensen
|
Candidates on the issues • Battleground states • Electoral College • Pivot Counties |
September 29 debate • October 7 debate • October 15 debate • October 22 debate • Democratic debates |
Democratic • Republican • Libertarian • Green • Constitution |
2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016 |
Last updated July 2, 2019.
This page contains a list of John Hickenlooper's campaign staff alongside their positions in the campaign, their most recent positions prior to the campaign, and their Twitter handles.
The list of campaign staff has been curated from the website Democracy in Action and Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing.
Click on the links below to navigate:
- Campaign staff in context
- Overview of Hickenlooper's campaign
- National and state staff
- Hickenlooper in the news
Know of any staff we missed? Please email us at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Visit Presidential election key staffers, 2020, to see our coverage of staff on other campaigns.
Here are links to the candidates' staff pages:
- Donald Trump (R)
- Joe Biden (D)
- Jo Jorgensen (L)
- Howie Hawkins (G)
Campaign staff in context
Campaign staff plays an important role in the presidential primaries. The makeup of a candidate's staff can signal the strength of their support from influential party activists and whether they are aligning with a particular faction or group within the party. Eric Appleman of Democracy in Action describes candidates' efforts to hire staffers as a "race for talent, both nationally and in key early states." He adds, "The goal is to assemble a team of top talent that can work together effectively to mobilize resources, boost the candidate and his or her message, and ultimately secure the party's nomination."[1]
Presidential candidates will typically have a national staff, which is overseen by a campaign manager and assisted by political consultants, senior advisors, professional polling firms, and key stakeholders such as interest group leaders and major financial supporters. They also build organizations in individual states that are overseen by state directors and staffed by party activists and political professionals well-versed in the particular politics of the area. Candidates often appoint elected officials and other important figures in their party's coalition as chairs of their national campaign and state-level campaigns.[1]
Hickenlooper campaign overview
John Hickenlooper, a former Democratic governor of Colorado, announced he was running for president of the United States on March 4, 2019. On August 15, 2019, Hickenlooper suspended his presidential campaign.[2]
Hickenlooper spoke about his tenure as governor, including developing methane emissions laws with environmentalists and oil and gas companies, expanding Medicaid in the state, and pushing through gun control legislation that limited the sale of certain gun magazines and expanded background checks. He also presented himself as both ready to challenge President Donald Trump and capable of earning bipartisan support.[3][4]
Prior to serving as governor from 2011 to 2019, Hickenlooper was the mayor of Denver for nearly eight years.[5]
National staff
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.[6] For a larger list of national campaign staff, visit Democracy in Action.
| John Hickenlooper presidential campaign national staff, 2020 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Staff | Position | Prior experience | Twitter handle |
| M.E. Smith | Campaign manager | Campaign manager, Bob Casey for United States Senate, 2018 | @smithmarye |
| Rick Palacio | Senior advisor | Managing partner, The Majority Institute | @RickPalacio |
| Case Button | Senior advisor | Consultant, Greenbrier | @Case_Button |
| Peter Cunningham | Communications director | Executive director of Education Post | @PCunningham57 |
State staff
The table below shows the candidate's 2020 early primary state directors and state communications directors. It also includes each staff member's position in the campaign, previous work experience, and Twitter handle, where available.[6] For a larger list of state campaign staff, visit Democracy in Action.
| John Hickenlooper presidential campaign state staff, 2020 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff | State | Position | Prior experience | Twitter handle |
| Sam Roecker | Iowa | State director | Partner, Path to Victory LLC | @SamRoecker |
Notable staff departures
The list below shows notable staff departures found in media reports.
| John Hickenlooper presidential campaign staff, 2020 (Departures) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Staff | Previous position | Departure date | New position |
| Brad Komar | Campaign manager | July 1, 2019[7] | N/A |
| Lauren Hitt | Communications director | July 1, 2019[7] | N/A |
| Dan Sorenson | National finance director | July 1, 2019[7] | National finance director, Beto O'Rourke presidential campaign, 2020 |
Hickenlooper in the news
- See also: Ballotpedia's Daily Presidential News Briefing and Editorial approach to story selection for the Daily Presidential News Briefing
This section featured five news stories about Hickenlooper and his presidential campaign. For a complete timeline of Hickenlooper's campaign activity, click here.
- August 15, 2019: Hickenlooper suspended his presidential campaign, according to the Associated Press.
- August 13, 2019: The New York Times reported that Hickenlooper was considering dropping his presidential bid to run for U.S. Senate in Colorado.
- August 10, 2019: Hickenlooper described what he called his pragmatic progressive policies on the economy and the environment.
- August 7, 2019: Hickenlooper wrote an op-ed in The Des Moines Register criticizing the Trump administration’s tariffs.
- August 6, 2019: Hickenlooper did not rule out a potential bid for U.S. Senate in Colorado. CNN reported that he spoke with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer about a possible run. "He is still in the race for president, but he hasn't closed the door to anything,” said Hickenlooper’s communications director.
See also
- Presidential election key staffers, 2020
- Presidential candidates, 2020
- Democratic presidential nomination, 2020
- Republican presidential nomination, 2020
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Democracy in Action, "Building Campaign Organizations (2019)," accessed May 10, 2019
- ↑ Twitter, "John Hickenlooper on August 15, 2019," accessed August 15, 2019
- ↑ NBC News, "Colorado's John Hickenlooper enters presidential race, says country faces a 'crisis,'" March 4, 2019
- ↑ Vox, "What Hickenlooper brings to the table as a presidential candidate," March 4, 2019
- ↑ Hickenlooper 2020, "About," accessed March 5, 2019
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Democracy in Action, "Organization," accessed November 4, 2019
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 ABC News, "5 key staffers leaving Hickenlooper campaign in major shakeup," July 2, 2019
