Elizabeth Warren building Arizona campaign staff ahead of state's primary

Ronald J. Hansen | The Republic | azcentral.com

Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren has hired someone to oversee her campaign in Arizona, making her the first top-tier candidate from her party to do so.

Warren, a senator from Massachusetts, named Andrea Nemecek as her state director. She previously worked on campaigns for former President Barack Obama and 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

In 2018, Nemecek helped train about 80 field workers in Arizona for what proved to be the Democrats' best election cycle in the state in decades. Before joining Warren's 2020 campaign, she was the Iowa organizing director for former presidential candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.

The hire, along with a dozen others in Arizona, comes as Warren is set to open campaign offices in Phoenix and Tucson.

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After Democrats won their first U.S. Senate race in Arizona in 30 years, both parties are treating the state like a presidential battleground in the 2020 general election.

Still, Arizona has kept a relatively low profile during the approaching Democratic primaries.

Warren, along with former Vice President Joe Biden, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg regularly attract double-digit support in the Democratic polls while Warren's support has faded in recent polls.

But Warren is the only one in that group who has held a public campaign event in Arizona. In August, she spoke to supporters in Tempe.

The other campaigns have growing volunteer groups in Arizona.

Buttigieg supporters, for example, held a "Pete Up" group meeting in Phoenix this week. Sanders backers have a table at to sign up supporters at First Friday in Phoenix.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a recent addition to the Democratic primary field, stopped in Arizona recently to file paperwork to qualify for the state's March 17 presidential preference election, or primary.

Other Democrats, further down in the polling or out of the race already, have made appearances, such as Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., former Rep. Beto O'Rourke and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julin Castro.

By contrast, President Donald Trump long ago started building his campaign in Arizona.

Last spring, Trump's campaign named Drew Sexton, a former public affairs staffer for former Gov. Jan Brewer, as the Arizona director of the Trump Victory program.

Trump won Arizona by 3.5 percentage points in 2016 over Clinton.

Reach the reporter Ronald J. Hansen at ronald.hansen@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4493. Follow him on Twitter @ronaldjhansen.

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