Sen. Kamala Harris’ nascent campaign has thus far prioritized Iowa, Nevada and South Carolina among the early voting states, as well as her native California. | Eva Hambach/AFP/Getty Images Elections Kamala Harris hires New Hampshire campaign director

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has made her first big staff hire in an early primary state, bringing on Craig Brown as her state director in New Hampshire, a campaign aide told POLITICO.

Brown joins the California senator’s White House bid after serving as campaign manager for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Molly Kelly, who lost the New Hampshire race to a GOP incumbent.


A Manchester, N.H., native, Brown has spent years climbing the ranks of Granite State politics, rising from deputy field director for former Gov. Maggie Hassan's 2012 campaign to helping direct Hillary Clinton’s New Hampshire operation in 2016.

Before managing Kelly’s run in the 2018 midterms, Brown, a former Manchester alderman, was instrumental in Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig's 2017 campaign — a race that drew considerable out-of-state interest from Democrats who used the opportunity to campaign there.

Harris, who has yet to announce early travel plans to New Hampshire, launched her presidential bid on Monday — raising $1.5 million in the first 24 hours — is making her first early primary state visit to South Carolina on Friday, before holding a campaign kickoff event Sunday in her hometown of Oakland, Calif.

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Harris will then head to Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, for a live CNN town hall.

Harris’ nascent campaign has thus far prioritized Iowa, Nevada and South Carolina among the early voting states, as well as her home state of California, which holds its primary on Super Tuesday next year. New Hampshire is seen as a heavier lift given the East Coast contenders either already in the Democratic field or expected to jump in, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).