Bloomberg’s bottomless wallet funds hiring frenzy
December 13, 2019Mike Bloomberg is making up for lost time — just two weeks after his late entry into the Democratic presidential primary, the former New York City mayor has hired more than 300 people so far to work on his campaign.
The self-funded multi-billionaire recently tapped nearly 100 staffers to fan out across 15 states as he pursues his unorthodox strategy of skipping the four early voting states and zeroing in on Super Tuesday on March 3.
His headquarters on Manhattan’s tony Upper East Side employs more than 200 people, including familiar faces from his days in City Hall. Former deputy mayors Kevin Sheekey and Patti Harris are his campaign manager and chair, respectively.
Among his recent hires is Jeff Glueck, CEO of Foursquare, a mobile app that allows users to virtually check into bars and restaurants. Glueck, who cut his teeth in Silicon Valley, will work as director of digital research & engagement, according to a release from Bloomberg’s team. Last week he announced his departure from the company on Twitter, teasing his next role as being “at the intersection of my passions for tech and politics.”
He will work alongside Gary Briggs, the Facebook executive who was named Bloomberg’s chief marketing officer.
The former mayor, who has a long record of funding Republicans as well as Democrats, has already spent more than $100 million on ads for his campaign.
And he’s got the cash to outspend his opponents many times over. When he entered the race on Nov. 24, Forbes calculated his wealth to be $54.1 billion. As of Thursday evening it had climbed to a cool $55.6 billion.
Team Bloomberg is also picking off the carcasses of fallen Democratic candidates as he bulks up his team.
He is naming Cassandra Henry, who worked as chief of staff to the deputy campaign manager of Beto O’Rourke’s failed presidential campaign, as his deputy states director.
And days before Sen. Kamala Harris dropped out of the race, Bloomberg picked up her staffer Kelly Mehlenbacher, who handled operations for Harris' embattled bid. Mehlenbacher worked on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign and is Bloomberg’s deputy chief operating officer.
Other new hires include former aides to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 race — Brynne Craig will be senior adviser, Carlos Sanchez is national political director and Jason Rodriguez was named deputy political director.
Source: https://www.politico.com/