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JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — At least five key aides to John Hickenlooper have confirmed they’re leaving his campaign or intend to do so in the coming weeks.
Brad Komar, campaign manager; Dan Sorenson, national finance director; Lauren Hitt, communications director; John Schueler, digital director; and Nolan Varee, New Hampshire political director are all moving on, decisions all confirmed to ABC News, which was the first to report the departures of Schueler and Varee.
The news comes on the heels of the first Democratic debate, at which the former Colorado governor’s middling bid wasn’t re-energized as was that of several key rivals. Polls after the debate said he failed to stand out on a crowded stage even after weeks of volleyed barbs with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., over socialism.
Perhaps more important, this shakeup comes the day after the close of the second quarter for campaign fundraising, making it especially telling that Hickenlooper’s finance director is among those on their way out.
Hickenlooper, not unlike several fellow 2020ers, was expected to be lagging behind the Democratic National Committee’s 130,000-donor benchmark required to participate in debates in September.
Sorenson confirmed he’ll be moving to Beto O’Rourke’s team as national finance director.
After Hitt told ABC News that “for personal and professional reasons, it made sense to be in Texas” for Sorenson, she confirmed she’d also be “transitioning out” very soon.
The other departing aides may be weighing offers from other campaigns, although it’s unlikely they’ll be following Sorenson en masse to O’Rourke’s, sources told ABC News.
The trail ahead may grow rockier for the Hickenlooper team as Brendan Koch, deputy finance director, also may be leaving the team, one of the five departing staffers told ABC News.
Sources close to the Hickenlooper campaign staff said this shakeup may be a “Hail Mary” pass, especially in the buildup to the next round of debates, a characterization with which departing aides didn’t disagree.
The campaign also just announced it’s hired M.E. Smith as campaign manager to replace Komar, who ran Hickenlooper’s 2014 gubernatorial campaign.
Serving two terms as governor of Colorado, including during the 2012 Aurora theater shooting, Hickenlooper touted a record of getting progressive things done in a purple state and boasted more moderate positions compared with much of a left-leaning 2020 field.
Hickenlooper has pledged to stay in the race for the long haul, standing tall for “all we believe in” and standing up “against all that divides us.”
As criteria for winning a spot on the debate stage ratchets up — along with the competition — it’s now an open question who remains standing alongside the former governor.
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