Advertisement In NH expansion, Buttigieg campaign to open 12 offices, hires 16 new organizers South Bend, Indiana, mayor to attend opening of 4 NH offices during upcoming weekend Share Shares Copy Link Copy

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s New Hampshire campaign is launching a significant expansion of its presence and activity in the Granite State with 12 office openings and the hiring of 16 additional paid organizers.The campaign says the addition of 14 new organizers and two regional organizing directors brings the campaign’s total paid staff in the state to 56 people.Buttigieg will personally attend the official opening of four new campaign offices next weekend when he comes to New Hampshire to speak at the state party convention, joining at least 18 of his fellow Democratic presidential candidates at the Manchester event.The campaign said the expansion of the New Hampshire team will be overseen by Victoria Williams, who is now the state campaign director after serving as deputy director. Williams previously was counsel to U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan and operations director on Hassan’s 2016 Senate campaign.Buttigieg campaign senior adviser Jess O’Connell, an experienced organizer and former CEO of the Democratic National Committee, joined Buttigieg in July to oversee activities in all early voting states. She spoke with WMUR about the expansion in an interview Monday.“We are leveling up. We want to take this to a top-tier presidential campaign,” O’Connell said. “We are opening 12 offices in the next week in every part of the state. We are in all 10 counties, from Berlin to Claremont to Derry. “There has been a lot of enthusiasm and energy for Pete in New Hampshire. I’ve seen the energy first hand,” O’Connell said. She said the campaign is working to harness the energy generated by Buttigieg at his campaign stops into a leading organization in the state.“We’re taking it one day at a time and talking to every single voter that we can,” she said. “One thing we’re learning about Pete is that as people get to know him, they really like him. He is still one of the least-known candidates so we have our work cut out for us, which is why we’re building a strong operation.”O’Connell said Buttigieg attracted more than 3,000 people to his events last week and more than 8,000 people so far in his visits to the state.“Granite State voters want a president like Pete, who has the courage to break with the past and address the urgent challenges facing this country -- from the gun violence epidemic to the climate crisis,” added New Hampshire campaign communications director Kevin Donohoe.“Over the spring and summer, we’ve been excited by the strong grassroots energy across New Hampshire for Pete and his vision for this country. By expanding our team and opening a dozen offices, we’ll be able to continue to grow our community of volunteers, expand our grassroots campaign and win the first-in-the-nation primary.”The Buttigieg network of offices is one of the largest in the state, if not the largest, among the Democratic presidential field. The campaign said the openings and staff expansion demonstrate Buttigieg's and his campaign’s commitment to New Hampshire.And as WMUR reported last week, the Buttigieg campaign has been organizing on five New Hampshire university and college campuses as students return to classes. The offices will begin opening Thursday, Sept. 5, when Buttigieg’s husband, Chasten Buttigieg, and national campaign manager Mike Schmuhl begin a tour to open offices in Manchester, Concord, Lebanon, Laconia, Claremont, Keene, Nashua, and Derry.Buttigieg, following his appearance at the state party convention Saturday, Sept. 7, will open campaign offices in Somersworth and Portsmouth before heading to northern New Hampshire on Sunday morning, Sept. 8, for meet-and-greets at the campaign’s Conway and Berlin offices.The schedule of office openings follows:-- Thursday, Sept. 5, at 1:15 p.m.: Manchester, 542 Elm St.-- Thursday, Sept. 5, at 2:45 p.m.: Concord, 11 Depot St., Suite 1 -- Thursday, Sept. 5, at 4:15 p.m.: Laconia, 635 Main St., Suite 303-- Thursday, Sept. 5, at 6:45 p.m.: Lebanon, 2 West Park St., Suite 260-- Friday, Sept. 6, at 9 a.m.: Claremont, 24 Crescent St.,-- Friday, Sept. 6, at 10:45 a.m.: Keene; campaign says location will be sent on request.-- Friday, Sept. 6, at 4:30 p.m.: Derry, 127 Rockingham Road, Unit 11-- Friday, Sept. 6, at 5:45 p.m.: Nashua: 37 Main St.-- Saturday, Sept. 7, at 4:30 p.m.: Portsmouth, 33 Deer St., number 5A; Buttigieg will personally lead office opening. -- Saturday, Sept. 7, at 5:45 p.m.: Somersworth, 8 Government Way; Buttigieg will appear in person to lead office opening. -- Sunday, Sept. 8, at 7:30 a.m.: Conway, 73 Main St., Unit 4; Buttigieg will attend to head office opening.-- Sunday, Sept. 8, at 10:30 a.m.: Berlin, 19 Pleasant St; Buttigieg will attend to lead office opening.In other stops during his 10th visit of the campaign to the state, Buttigieg will meet supporters outside the SNHU Arena, the site of the convention, at 6:40 a.m. Saturday.At 7 a.m. he will attend a VoteVets presidential candidate forum on veterans and military families at the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel, 700 Elm St., Manchester.And at 2:30 pm. he will attend a picnic with supporters at Kalivas Park in Manchester.