A key Vermont Democratic Party official has temporarily left his post to become state director for Michael Bloomberg’s presidential campaign.
R. Christopher Di Mezzo, the party’s communications director, went on leave on Friday afternoon. He will serve the Bloomberg campaign through the March 3 Vermont presidential primary — and possibly beyond that.
“It’s unclear exactly when I’ll be back with the party,” Di Mezzo said in a phone interview.
Could he stay on with Bloomberg after the Vermont primary? “That’s an ongoing conversation. The plan is to return to the party,” he said.
It’s unusual for a party to allow a key staffer to take an open-ended leave. Di Mezzo will be gone for at least six weeks during the legislative session of an election year that will feature highly competitive races for governor and lieutenant governor.
Presumably VDP messaging would be kicking into high gear right about now.
Di Mezzo is confident the VDP will carry on just fine. “The party is in a strong position,” he said. “I wouldn’t be leaving if I thought I was hurting the party. If anything, this is a testament to the strength of the party.”
The views of party leadership on Di Mezzo’s move are unclear. Neither party chair Terje Anderson nor Executive Director Scott McNeil responded to repeated calls for comment.
The party is only months removed from an embezzlement scandal that led to the ouster of its political director, Brandon Batham.
The Bloomberg campaign is known for spending big on everything from advertising to front-line staff. Bloomberg is paying field organizers $6,000 per month, “roughly double the going rate that other Democratic candidates are paying,” according to Vanity Fair.
Di Mezzo declined to reveal his salary, but it’s a good bet he’s landed a hefty raise. In a written statement, he said the move was all about principle.
“Mike Bloomberg has a long track record of delivering real results on the issues that matter most to Vermonters,” Di Mezzo wrote. “Mike is the right candidate for Vermont and the right candidate to defeat Donald Trump in November.”
Even though Vermont turned out big for its home-state candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., in 2016, Di Mezzo promises a robust effort for Bloomberg this time around.
“We will be building out a team,” he said. “We’ll open at least one, and possibly two, offices.”
