The departures comes as chairwoman Cheri Bustos faces accusations that she has done little to address the lack of diversity in the upper ranks of the campaign arm.
The top echelon of staffers at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee left their jobs Monday, a shakeup following a pair of POLITICO stories detailing deep unease with the party’s campaign apparatus over a lack of diversity.
On Monday morning, Allison Jaslow, DCCC executive director and a close ally of Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) — chair of the committee — resigned during a tense meeting at the party’s Capitol Hill headquarters. And in the next 10 hours, much of the senior staff was out: Jared Smith, the communications director and another Bustos ally; Melissa Miller, a top DCCC communications aide; Molly Ritner, political director; Nick Pancrazio, deputy executive director; and Van Ornelas, the DCCC’s director of diversity.
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Jacqui Newman, the chief operating officer for the campaign arm, will serve as interim executive director and facilitate the search for a permanent replacement, Bustos said in a statement late Monday.
“Today has been a sobering day filled with tough conversations that too often we avoid," Bustos said. "But I can say confidently that we are taking the first steps toward putting the DCCC back on path to protect and expand our majority, with a staff that truly reflects the diversity of our Democratic caucus and our party."
Ritner was one of two national political directors at the DCCC. Kory Kozloski, the other national political director, is still with the campaign arm, according to multiple sources. While most of the staff departures are effective immediately, Miller is expected to remain at DCCC temporarily to help transition a new communications team, according to sources.
POLITICO reported last week that top lawmakers in the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Hispanic Caucus were furious with Bustos, saying she was short-changing minorities by excluding them from her senior staff and failing to live up to promises she made during her campaign for the chairmanship. Bustos surrounded herself with loyalists, eschewing the typical campaign hands that run major party apparatuses.
"Today, I recognize that, at times, I have fallen short in leading these talented individuals. To my colleagues, who I have the upmost respect for, I hear your concerns, and we can and must do better," Bustos said.
Newman will chair an executive council to conduct a "national and open search" for a new executive director, Bustos said. Several other top DCCC staffers, including Danny Kazin, the deputy executive director, and Kozloski will also be on the council.
In addition, senior DCCC aides Charles Benton, Jackie Forte-Mackay, Samantha McClain, Dennis Raj, Jillian Shweiki, Alexandra Smith, Michael Smith and Ryan Thompson have been appointed to the committee leading the search.
The staff turmoil follows criticism from many Democrats that Bustos has done little to address the lack of diversity in the upper ranks of the campaign arm since winning the chairmanship late last year.
https://www.politico.com/amp/story/2019/07/29/top-dccc-staffer-out-amid-diversity-uproar-1439525
