Booker interviewing potential campaign managers for likely presidential bid
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker is interviewing potential campaign managers as his team works to quickly fill the key post for a likely presidential bid, a source familiar with the process tells NBC News.
Booker is one of dozens of Democrats considering a run for the White House in 2020, but among the best known in the potential field. The interviews, the latest of which took place Wednesday, speak to the sense of urgency among potential candidates to lock down top talent for campaign roles.
The likelihood of a Booker candidacy has grown in recent months as he stepped up his campaigning for Democratic candidates in state and congressional races throughout the country.
Booker delivered the keynote address at the Iowa Democratic Party’s Fall Gala in October, his most conspicuous 2020 move to date. He visited South Carolina a week later, a trip that included a major local Democratic party fundraiser that drew more than a thousand attendees. He said then that he would give serious consideration to a 2020 bid in the days after the midterm elections but that his focus was on winning reelection in New Jersey in 2020. He repeated that sentiment this week.
“We should be able to come together and get good work done before we start balkanizing ourselves for presidential ambitions,” Booker said at the Yahoo! All Markets Summit Tuesday.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation earlier this month clarifying existing state law to allow Booker to simultaneously run for a second full Senate term and the presidency in 2020. The source said potential campaign manager candidates could serve in a dual role should Booker seek both the presidency and re-election.
