Bernie Sanders' departing campaign strategists said they were grateful to the senator “for the opportunity to work with him in a campaign whose impact was transformative in American politics.” | Andrew Harnik/AP Photo 2020 Elections Top Sanders strategists split from his 2020 campaign

Sen. Bernie Sanders’ nascent presidential campaign made a major staffing shuffle on Tuesday, with three of his top ad gurus from his 2016 campaign announcing they would not stay on for his 2020 run.

Tad Devine, Julian Mulvey and Mark Longabaugh in a joint statement cited a differing “creative vision” from the senator for their split.


The eponymous firm run by the trio cut 275 television, digital and radio ads for Sanders during his 2016 run, they said, adding that they remained “tremendously proud of our work and our association with Bernie Sanders.”

They added that they were grateful to Sanders “for the opportunity to work with him in a campaign whose impact was transformative in American politics.”

Sanders’ 2020 campaign manager Faiz Shakir said in a statement that “the campaign appreciates all the good work DML has done and wishes them well.”

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Devine, Mulvey and Longabaugh said Tuesday they were also proud to have played a role in the launch of Sanders’ 2020 campaign, which kicked off last week in earnest, showcasing the same grassroots fundraising prowess that defined it in 2016, before Sanders ultimately conceded the Democratic nomination to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Their departure could be indicative of Sanders’ desire to get serious about making changes to his team of strategists in an effort to make a deep run in a wide open Democratic primary field.

The exit of Devine, who was chief strategist of the 2016 campaign, in particular lightens some of Sanders' baggage. Devine recently attracted headlines after he was called as a witness in the trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort for his consulting work with Manafort in Ukraine.