2016 elections O'Malley nabs de Blasio campaign manager as senior adviser

Likely Democratic 2016 hopeful Martin O’Malley has added New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s campaign manager to his team as a senior adviser as he prepares for a White House run.

It’s the clearest sign that O’Malley is pushing forward with plans for a national campaign despite the challenge likely Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton poses for the rest of the field on the fundraising front.


O’Malley aides said Bill Hyers had been informally advising the outgoing Maryland governor for months, but, with the midterm elections over, is now joining the O’Malley’s team on a formal basis.

Hyers is one of the top Democratic strategists nationally and oversaw de Blasio’s dark-horse primary win in 2013. He was President Barack Obama’s Pennsylvania state director in 2012 and previously worked for Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.

Clinton has yet to declare her candidacy but is expected to do so sometime early next year. Meanwhile, O’Malley has been calling donors since the midterms to try to line up support.

In his calls to donors, according to two sources familiar with them, O’Malley has acknowledged that his Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown’s loss in Maryland’s gubernatorial race was a blow as he himself pushes ahead nationally.

But O’Malley also has a progressive record on issues like immigration and gay marriage that he has been able to tout as he’s sought support. De Blasio — who managed Clinton’s successful 2000 U.S. Senate campaign in New York — was elected on a deeply populist message and has been moving to raise his profile nationally.