Kamala Harris presidential campaign staff, 2020
Date: November 3, 2020 |
 Donald Trump Joe Biden Howie Hawkins Jo Jorgensen
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Last updated July 6, 2019.
This page contains a list of Kamala Harris' 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:
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]
Harris campaign overview
Kamala Harris formally declared her candidacy for president of the United States on January 21, 2019. She suspended her presidential campaign on December 3, 2019.[2]
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden announced Harris was his running mate on August 11, 2020. He called her "a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants."[3][4] Biden and Harris won in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Harris focused her campaign on economic issues, including universal pre-K, debt-free college, a tax cut for working- and middle-class families of up to $500 a month, and Medicare for All.[5]
Harris was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016. She served as the attorney general of California from 2011 to 2017 and district attorney of San Francisco from 2004 to 2011.
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.
| Kamala Harris presidential campaign national staff, 2020 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Staff | Position | Prior experience | Twitter handle |
| Juan Rodriguez | Campaign manager | Partner, SCRB Strategies | @lajrod |
| Averell Smith | Senior advisor | Partner, SCRB Strategies | N/A |
| Sean Clegg | Senior advisor | Partner, SCRB Strategies | @SeanClegg |
| Laphonza Butler | Senior advisor | Partner, SCRB Strategies | @LaphonzaB |
| David Huynh | Senior advisor | Counsel and director of delegate operations and ballot access, Hillary Clinton for President of the United States, 2016 | @KeepHuynhing |
| Nathan Barankin | Senior advisor | Chief of staff, office of Sen. Kamala Harris | @nathanbarankin |
| Emmy Ruiz | Senior advisor | Colorado director, Hillary Clinton for President of the United States, 2016 | @emmyruiz |
| Missayr Boker | Co-political director | Campaign director, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee | N/A |
| Julie Chávez Rodríguez | Co-political director | California state director, office of Sen. Kamala Harris | N/A |
| Lily Adams | Communications director | Communications director, office of Sen. Kamala Harris | @adamslily |
| Ian Sams | National press secretary | Communications director, Tim Kaine for United States Senate, 2018 | @IanSams |
| Angelique Cannon | National finance director | Deputy national finance director, Hillary Clinton for President of the United States, 2016 | @cannonangelique |
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.
| Kamala Harris presidential campaign state staff, 2020 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff | State | Position | Prior experience | Twitter handle |
| Courtni Pugh | California | State director | Campaign manager, Kevin de Leon for United States Senate, 2018 | @courtni_pugh |
| Will Dubbs | Iowa | State director | Director, Pennsylvania Democratic Coordinated Campaign, 2018 | @WillDubbs |
| Ernesto Aprenza | Nevada | State director | Colorado deputy communications director, Hillary Clinton for President of the United States, 2016 | @ErnieApreza |
| Helen Kalla | Nevada | Communications director | Communications director, the office of Gov. Steve Sisolak | @helen_kalla |
| Craig Brown | New Hampshire | State director | Campaign manager, Molly Kelly for Governor of New Hampshire | @CraigBrownNH |
| Jalisa Washington-Price | South Carolina | State director | Chief of staff, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee | @J_WashingtonSC |
| Miryam Lipper | Iowa | Communications director | Battleground communications director, Hillary Clinton for President of the United States, 2016 | @MiryamLipper |
| Nate Evans | New Hampshire | Communications director | Deputy communications director, Bill Nelson for United States Senate, 2018 | @nathanpevans |
| Jerusalem Demsas | South Carolina | Communications director | Communications director, Ben Jealous for Governor of Maryland, 2018 | @JeruDemsas |
Harris 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 Harris and her presidential campaign. For a complete timeline of Harris' campaign activity, click here.
- December 3, 2019: Harris ended her presidential campaign. She said in a statement, “I’m not a billionaire. I can’t fund my own campaign. And as the campaign has gone on, it’s become harder and harder to raise the money we need to compete.”
- November 29, 2019: The New York Times profiled the state of Harris’ campaign, including the resignation of state operations director Kelly Mehlenbacher. Harris also campaigned in Iowa on Thanksgiving Day.
- November 25, 2019: Harris issued her mental health policy proposal, which includes focusing federal funding on mental health research, authorizing an educational loan forgiveness program for mental health professionals, and increasing the number of treatment beds nationwide.
- November 22, 2019: Rep. Salud Carbajal (Calif.) endorsed Harris, marking her fourth Congressional Hispanic Caucus endorsement.
- November 21, 2019: Del. Stacey Plaskett (V.I.) endorsed Harris. Harris also campaigned in South Carolina November 23 and 24.
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
- ↑ Politico, "Kamala Harris drops out of presidential race," December 3, 2019
- ↑ Twitter, "Joe Biden," August 11, 2020
- ↑ CNBC, "Joe Biden picks Sen. Kamala Harris to be his vice presidential running mate, making her the first black woman on a major ticket," August 11, 2020
- ↑ Kamala Harris, "Our America," accessed February 20, 2019
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Democracy in Action, "Organization," accessed November 4, 2019
