Sen. Bernie Sanders has shuffled his New England campaign operations, moving New Hampshire state director Joe Caiazzo to Massachusetts and handing the Granite State over to Northeast regional director and top aide Shannon Jackson.
With the New Hampshire primary turning into a dead heat between Sanders, former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, something had to give and on Sunday news broke that the Vermont senator had decided to reorganize as he looks to expand into Super Tuesday states.
“I think the senator wanted someone here who he trusts,” Jackson said in an interview Tuesday about the decision for him to take the reins in New Hampshire.
The decision comes after the campaign was frustrated with the favorable press Warren received after the New Hampshire Democratic Party Convention earlier this month, that took attention away from Sanders’ door knocking efforts and ground game.
Two weeks later, Caiazzo, who had run operations in the Granite State since Feb. 19, was shifted to Massachusetts and Jackson took control of the key early primary state. The Vermont native and longtime Sanders confidante has already rented an apartment in Manchester, where campaign headquarters are located.
Over the weekend, Politico reported that members of Sanders’ state steering committee — a group of die-hard supporters who have been organizing non stop since 2015 — applauded on Sunday when they heard Caiazzo had been assigned to Massachusetts and Jackson would be in charge.
The die-hards were worried Sanders could lose the first-in-the-nation primary.
In 2016, Sanders got a huge boost when he beat Hillary Clinton by 22 points, winning 60% of the vote, in the New Hampshire contest.
Since then, Sanders has maintained a group of about 75 supporters who have been meeting monthly since that primary election to formulate campaign strategy and organize throughout the state.
Some people in the steering committee told Politico they were unhappy with changes made by Caiazzo and that their work wasn’t being appreciated by the campaign.
In July, Caiazzo told VTDigger that New Hampshire isn’t as important for Sanders’ path to the nomination this cycle because with so many candidates in the field, it is more important to focus on winning delegates.
“Do you have to go undefeated to win the Super Bowl? No. Would it be nice? Yes. Would it be nice to go 14-2, yes, but is it imperative? No,” Caiazzo said at the time.
Jackson said he had a “positive” meeting with the committee on Sunday, but would not say whether longtime Sanders supporters in New Hampshire have been upset with Caiazzo’s leadership.
“With their help we have achieved so much. They really deeply, deeply, care,” Jackson said. “They have not stopped and they are a huge group of doers and want to make sure they are valued.”
“I want to be hearing ‘Shannon, you’re working me too hard’ not ‘I can do more’,” he added.
Jackson also said that it made sense to move Caiazzo to Massachusetts as Sanders looks to build up operations in Super Tuesday states.
“Joe knows Massachusetts better than anyone else on our staff,” Jackson said. “Unfortunately we can’t clone staff members.”
Last presidential election cycle, Caiazzo, who is a Massachusetts native, also worked for the Vermont senator. After Sanders lost, he was hired by the Clinton campaign to work on the Rhode Island state effort.
In between then and now, Caiazzo also led the successful re-election of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island.
Before taking over for Caiazzo in New Hampshire, Jackson, as the Northeast regional director, was based in the Burlington campaign office. His former position will now stay vacant.
Jackson, who ran Sanders’ U.S. Senate reelection campaign in 2018 and was the first director of the political organization, Our Revolution, plans to expand the New Hampshire staff to more than 50 by October and double field staff in the coming months.
“All my energy will be focused on New Hampshire,” Jackson said.“We are going to build upon what is already in place.
