Kamala Harris lays off staff, shuts offices in New Hampshire
MANCHESTER, N.H. – Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is dramatically cutting her staff in New Hampshire, the state that holds the first primary in the race for the White House.
Harris campaign officials confirmed to Fox News on Friday that all field staffers in the state have left the campaign and that only a “handful” of staff remains. The added that three field offices – in Keene, Nashua, and Portsmouth -- have been shuttered. They said the state headquarters – in Manchester – will remain open with a small staff.
The move comes two days after top national officials for the senator from California announced they were restructuring and redeploying staffers from their headquarters in Baltimore and some of the early-voting states to Iowa, which kicks off the primary and caucus presidential nominating calendar. The campaign has been hemorrhaging money, spending more than what was coming in.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris of California, at the New Hampshire Democratic Party convention, in Manchester, N.H. on Sept. 7
The Harris campaign also confirmed to Fox News that the candidate canceled next week’s two-day swing through New Hampshire, when Harris was scheduled to head to the State House in Concord and file in person to place her name on the primary ballot. The campaign said Harris will now file to place her name on the ballot by mail. White House contenders almost always show up in person to file.
In a statement, the campaign noted that "Senator Harris and this team set out with one goal -- to win the nomination and defeat Donald Trump in 2020. To do so, the campaign has made a strategic decision to realign resources to go all in on Iowa, resulting in office closures and staff realignments and reductions in New Hampshire.”
Harris told Fox News in February, during her first visit to the state since launching her campaign a month earlier, that “I intend to spend a lot of time here and I intend to compete for the votes here.”
While Harris drew large crowds during her trips to the state and assembled a talented and formidable staff on the ground, she visited New Hampshire less often than many of her top rivals. That was noticed by pundits and the media.
In her last trip to the state – in early September to speak at the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s annual convention -- Harris once again vowed pledged that the Granite State "is a top priority going forward...It's a very important state."
Harris stood at just 3 percent in the latest poll in the state, a University of New Hampshire survey for CNN that was released earlier this week. The California Democrat was far behind top-tier contenders.
Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.
-Justin Thyme- Two cents worth of opinion.
1. Iowa 2. New Hampshire 3. South Carolina 4. Florida 5. Four States Super Tuesday
You give up on anyone of those and... well...
-Justin Thyme- Two cents worth of opinion.
1. Iowa 2. New Hampshire 3. South Carolina 4. Florida 5. Four States Super Tuesday
You give up on anyone of those and... well...
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