President Joe Biden’s campaign is hiring nine additional staffers in Georgia and plans to open seven offices across the state this month as the Democrat ramps up efforts to once again capture a political battleground he narrowly won four years ago.
Biden’s campaign said the seven offices will be open by mid-April, highlighting Georgia’s status as one of the few states on the 2024 map where both campaigns plan to compete.
Biden captured Georgia by fewer than 12,000 votes in 2020, making him the first Democrat to win the state since 1992. Former President Donald Trump and his allies see Georgia as crucial to his comeback bid, and he’s returning to Atlanta on Wednesday for a high-dollar fundraiser.
The announcement gives Biden’s campaign an early edge over Trump’s operation in Georgia. Trump has one senior staffer devoted to his campaign so far in Georgia and, for now, is relying on the state GOP, elected officials and local activists to mobilize voters.
The increased staffing could also help allay concerns from local Democrats worried that Biden won’t campaign as vigorously in Georgia as other battleground states, such as North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
Biden’s campaign is also bolstering the staff around Jonae Wartel, the prominent Democratic strategist tapped in January to help lead his Georgia efforts. Longtime strategists and operatives with experience in Georgia and other competitive states are among the nine hires.
They’ll set out to reforge the fragile coalition of liberal voters, suburban moderates and disaffected Republicans who helped fuel Biden’s narrow win in 2020. Polls show Biden locked in a tight race in Georgia with Trump, who is seeing some of his fiercest critics within the GOP rallying, if reluctantly, around him.
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Dan Kanninen, the Biden campaign’s battleground states director, pointed to the elections in 2020 and 2022 — when Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock toppled Trump-backed Herschel Walker — as examples of the “power of organizing and early investments” in Georgia.
“This team of operatives is battle-tested and ready to work together with organizers across the state to help President Biden win and defeat Donald Trump and his MAGA allies for the third election in a row,” he said.
Here’s a closer look at Biden’s new hires:
- Porsha White will serve as Biden’s state director. She’s now the vice president of strategic partnerships at End Citizens United and previously worked as a top aide to Let America Vote Atlanta and Planned Parenthood Southeast.
- Lacey Morrison will serve as Biden’s state campaign manager. She was most recently the campaign manager for U.S. Rep. Katie Porter’s campaign for the U.S. Senate in California. A University of Georgia graduate, Morrison also worked as the regional political director for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, focusing on the Sunbelt states.
- Teddy Smyth will serve as Biden’s state general election director. He is the executive director for the Georgia House Democrats and was an aide in Georgia to Biden’s 2020 campaign. He also worked for U.S. Sen. Cory Booker’s 2020 bid for president.
- Ryan Stern will serve as Biden’s trips director in Georgia. He is a consultant and served as an aide to U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, along with billionaire Tom Steyer.
- Andy Love will serve as Biden’s data director in Georgia. He’s a data analyst at Blue Action and was a senior analyst for the Democratic Party of Georgia and the Democratic Party of Virginia.
- Cecilia Ugarte Baldwin will serve as Biden’s voter protection director in Georgia. She was a deputy chief of staff to Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and ran a similar voter program in Ohio during the 2022 midterm election.
- Liz Barrett will serve as the deputy director for voter protection for Biden’s campaign in Georgia. She was a regional manager for voter protection efforts in 2022 in Georgia and has also worked for the state Democratic Party and Fair Fight.
- Alice Nam will serve as the campaign’s press secretary in Georgia. She was a communications aide for U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler and U.S. Rep. Marilyn Strickland. She also worked on the political staff of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
- Marc Banks will serve as the campaign’s deputy communications director in Georgia. He is the founder of MUSE Creative Commons and was a spokesman for Stacey Abrams’ campaign for governor. He also was a top communications aide for the NAACP.
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