May 09, 2019
"President Trump’s re-election team is building out its political infrastructure with a round of hires that underscores the importance the Midwest and Florida are expected to have in the 2020 election. "The campaign has carved the nation into nine regions as it decides how best to spend its resources on contacting voters, motivating supporters and, eventually, getting them to the polls on Election Day, according to campaign officials. Each area will be overseen by a newly hired regional political director.
"The re-election team, branded Trump Victory, also has hired nine state political directors—including one each in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida—with another half dozen or so expected to be announced in the coming weeks. They also have plans to hire a team of nearly 50 regional communications staffers, more than double the size of the 2016 team. The regional communications team will be overseen by Rick Gorka, a former communications staffer on Mitt Romney’s 2012 Republican presidential campaign. ... "In a joint statement Wednesday, Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale and RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said they are planning a voter-turnout operation and a communications team that will be “the largest ever undertaken by a presidential campaign.” … "The Trump Victory team said it already has 30,000 trained “fellows,” volunteers that will be responsible for organizing neighborhood teams and leading voter contact activities. The latest expansion of the campaign effort follows an announcement in February of senior-level campaign hires, part of a push to put a more robust political structure around Mr. Trump than he had in 2016. Aides also are aiming to preserve for him a clear path to the Republican nomination. "The early hiring means more spending. The re-election team already has spent more than $83 million on rallies, fundraising and other expenses. President Obama didn’t actively raise money for his re-election campaign during his first two years in office and his operating expenditures for media, legal services and political travel totaled $10.4 million, FEC records show. President George W. Bush spent about $5 million during his first two years in office, according to the records. "Mr. Carr said he talks to Trump donors about the importance of an early investment, and how the results will pay off in 2020. “They understand that,” he said..."
Comments