Rebecca Holcombe has appointed Cameron Russell, who ran Christine Hallquist’s unsuccessful bid for governor in 2018, to lead her gubernatorial campaign in 2020.
Russell, who worked for the Vermont Democratic Party from 2014 to 2016 as a field and campaign director, had been a part-time adviser to Holcombe since September.
Russell replaces Kyle Quinn-Quesada, a Democratic operative who ran congressional campaigns in California and Arizona and previously worked for the Democratic National Committee, who Holcombed tapped in October to head up her staff.
In a statement, Quinn-Quesada said he stepped down from the position because of ongoing health issues.
“I am grateful to have had the opportunity to help Rebecca launch her campaign,” he wrote. “I wish I could be there for the rest of this journey. She will make a great Governor.”
Russell, who grew up in Addison County and currently works as executive assistant to the dean of the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Vermont, will be joining the campaign full time in the coming weeks.
“I wouldn’t even entertain taking this position if Rebecca wasn’t somebody that I really believe in,” he said in an interview Tuesday.
“I think she knows the issues extraordinarily well and I think anybody running against an incumbent in Vermont has a challenge ahead of them, if Phil Scott is in fact running for reelection. But Rebecca, I believe, is really in this for the right reasons.”
Holcombe, who served as Vermont’s secretary of education under Govs. Scott and Peter Shumlin, announced she was running for governor in July, and is the only Democrat in the race so far.
She is preparing to challenge Scott, who has yet to announce he will seek a third term, but has already started fundraising for a reelection campaign.
Holcombe announced Russell’s hiring on Twitter Tuesday.
“There’s no one in VT better positioned to take on this role, and I am fortunate to have his experience and knowledge of VT’s communities and political landscape as part of my campaign,” she wrote.
In 2018, Russell led Hallquist’s campaign against Scott. In the election, the incumbent governor, who won a second term, got 55% of the vote, while Hallquist captured 40%.
Russell said that the governor hasn’t lived up to his pledge to make the state more affordable.
“Vermonters on the economic margins are still hurting and we need real leadership both to ensure Vermonters’ current tax dollars go as far as they can go and to lead on the issues that will support working families,” he said.
Since July, Holcombe has been traveling around the state, meeting voters, holding small events and fundraising. Her campaign says she has raised between $250,000 and $300,000 so far, but because campaign finance filings aren’t due until March, her total fundraising can’t be verified.
Announcing Russell’s hiring Tuesday, Holcombe added that her campaign would soon move into a more “public phase.” Russell said this means she will begin to hold more press conferences, and events, including a formal kick-off.
With only a year left until the next election, others who are mulling runs for Vermont’s highest office will soon have to make decisions.
Vermont Attorney General TJ Donovan, Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman and Brenda Siegel, a progressive activist who ran for governor in 2018, are also considering gubernatorial campaigns in 2020.
