Biden’s campaign mixes new faces with tested Trump battle veterans

For his 2024 re-election campaign, U.S. President Joe Biden is combining senior aides who helped him win the White House with younger, diverse leadership.

According to polls, Biden aides and Republican voters perceive former President Donald Trump as the early Republican nominee.

Biden associates say they take running against Trump seriously but believe they can beat him again by targeting Black and Latino voters and gaining Republican strongholds. In 2020, Biden defeated Trump with 306 electoral college votes and over 7 million more popular votes.

The White House and DNC declined to comment on 2024 campaign personnel announcements. Key campaign workers and advisers include:

CHAVEZ RODRIGUEZ
Senior White House employee Julie Chavez Rodriguez will manage Biden’s campaign. She will work with White House senior advisers to manage a $1 billion enterprise with hundreds of full-time staff.

She counseled Vice President Kamala Harris when she ran for the Democratic presidential nomination and was Biden’s 2020 deputy campaign manager.

She heads the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs.

Democrats fear losing swing-state voters, making Latino voter outreach crucial.

Chavez Rodriguez’s relationships with municipal and state officials will help the campaign start across a dozen critical swing states.

Quenton Fulks
Chavez Rodriguez will work with deputy Quentin Fulks, who led state campaigns in Georgia, a former Republican bastion that helped Biden win the 2020 race. Black Fulks ran Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock’s 2022 re-election campaign, giving Biden’s Democrats Senate control.

He was EMILY’s List’s strategist and worked for the House Democratic primary committee.

Mike Donilon
Mike Donilon, a senior White House advisor and one of the president’s longest-serving confidants, was Biden’s top aide in 2020 and helped design his message to defeat Trump.

Biden then ran on “restoring the soul of the nation,” warning that Trump threatened civility and democratic values.

Biden allies claim that speech, written nearly two years earlier, was appropriate for November 2020 U.S. politics. Biden repeated it in a Tuesday campaign video declaring his reelection. Donilon is a political advertising and polling guru.

Steve Richetti
Steve Richetti, Biden’s White House counselor, was Clinton’s legislative adviser and Biden’s vice presidential chief of staff.

He’s likely to be in the room when important decisions are made due to his extensive Washington lobbying. Given his position in congressional discussions, people, and organization, he may weigh in on policy.

Former White House communications director Kate Bedingfield and current deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed, who were part of Biden’s inner circle during the campaign, will counsel the president.

Mike Tyler
Michael Tyler, a former DNC and Senator Cory Booker communications director, is a candidate for campaign communications director.

He advised a LeBron James-led 2020 election initiative to increase Black voter turnout.

He led Atlanta’s narrowly lost 2024 Democratic convention bid.

O’Malley Dillon
Jen O’Malley Dillon, Biden’s 2020 campaign manager, will likely play a major role in the 2024 race.

O’Malley Dillon, the first female Democratic presidential campaign manager, reimagined the 2020 campaign for the COVID-19 epidemic and orchestrated Democrats’ surprising victory in Arizona and Georgia.

Anita Dunn
Anita Dunn, a senior White House adviser, Washington lobbyist, and former Obama communications director, is likely to guide strategy.

After losing in Iowa and New Hampshire, she helped Biden reorganize staff and strategy. After his stunning win over frontrunner Bernie Sanders in South Carolina, she helped flip the narrative from broke to inevitable.

Ron Klain
Since 2004, Klain has prepared every Democratic contender for debates. Progressive groups and lawmakers, who often distrust moderate Biden’s devotion to their problems, use him as a conduit.

Jill Biden
First Lady Jill Biden is expected to be a popular campaign surrogate for her husband and a close adviser on strategy, people, and communications. Valerie Biden, Joe Biden’s sister, may also speak to the president.

Jeff Zients, his chief of staff, will likely be involved behind the scenes.

Elliot Flaherty
According to a source, White House digital strategist Rob Flaherty, 2012 Obama campaign veteran Mitch Stewart, and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s 2022 campaign manager Preston Elliot are all being considered.

Biden chose seven campaign co-chairs to serve as campaign spokespeople and advisers. Biden-aligned Representatives Lisa Blunt-Rochester, Veronica Escobar, and Jim Clyburn led the list.

Clyburn’s late endorsement of Biden’s faltering South Carolina primary campaign helped him win the 2020 party selection.

Biden also wants Senators Chris Coons, Tammy Duckworth, and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. His past campaign considered Duckworth and Whitmer as vice-presidential nominees. Former Disney executive and Democratic fundraiser Jeffrey Katzenberg completed the list.