Politico: Priorities USA hires up ahead of 2018
Priorities USA hires up ahead of 2018
June 5, 2017
By Gabriel Debenedetti
Priorities USA Action, which raised nearly $200 million supporting Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid in 2016, is ramping up again with new hires and a new headquarters ahead of the 2018 election season.
After moving into a new, larger office in downtown Washington to house what will soon be Priorities’ largest staff to date, the 6-year-old organization is bringing on a pair of operatives from the two sides of the Democratic presidential primary in 2016.
Josh Schwerin, a national spokesman for Clinton who previously worked at the DCCC and for Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, will be the group’s communications director.
Priorities is also bringing on Tristan Wilkerson, who worked on national constituency outreach for Bernie Sanders, as a special adviser for voter protection and political outreach. Wilkerson, a former staffer for the liberal CREDO super PAC and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), will work on the voting rights efforts that Priorities has been involved with since merging with Every Citizen Counts in December.
In addition, Priorities re-signed media consultants Saul Shorr and Adam Magnus after their group, Shorr Johnson Magnus, served as the super PAC’s main ad-maker in the 2016 cycle.
A large part of Priorities’ rebirth after the presidential campaign has focused on expanding its digital footprint and online advertising in 2017.
After raising and spending roughly $190 million in the 2016 cycle under the direction of veteran party operative Guy Cecil, the group has spent much of the time since November relaunching as a center of Democratic political activity and hiring aggressively as the party searches for a path forward with Donald Trump in the White House.