A day after the second fundraising quarter ended and after his national finance director left to join former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke’s presidential campaign, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper shook up his own presidential campaign staff.
On Monday night, Hickenlooper named M.E. Smith his campaign manager, replacing Brad Komar. A spokesperson confirmed the departure of Hickenlooper’s national finance director, Dan Sorenson, for O’Rourke’s campaign. Politico first reported Sorenson’s defection to O’Rourke.
Smith most recently served as campaign manager for Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey’s successful reelection. Smith was also Sen. Michael Bennet’s deputy campaign manager in 2016 and deputy campaign manager for Hickenlooper’s gubernatorial reelection campaign in 2014.
Hickenlooper campaign spokeswoman Lauren Hitt said of Sorenson in a statement to CBS News, “We wish him the best on his future endeavors.”
But Hitt, too, is leaving Hickenlooper’s campaign. She told CBS News she would be transitioning out of the job in the next couple of weeks.
A source with knowledge of the campaign says the staffers leaving Hickenlooper’s team were not fired but decided to leave.
Hickenlooper has been criticizing progressive plans like “Medicare for All” and the “Green New Deal” as unrealistic economically, while defending the role of the private sector and capitalism in the U.S. economy. The popular two-term Colorado governor has been lagging in the polls, registering under 1% in a CNN survey taken after last week’s first primary debates.
Sarah Ewall-Wice and Stephen Sanchez contributed to this report.
