Ned Lamont today announced the senior members of his campaign team. Lamont has opened his campaign headquarters in downtown New Haven at 169 Orange Street.
“As a businessman, I learned that one of the keys to success is hiring good people,” said Lamont. “It´s what I will do as Governor, and it´s what I´m doing on my campaign. This team combines years of political experience with a deep knowledge of Connecticut and what we need to do to get our state back on offense.”
Joe Abbey, Campaign Manager — Abbey brings more than ten years of federal and state level campaign experience to the Lamont team. In 2001, he worked to elect Mark Warner for Governor of Virginia, later serving as Deputy Campaign Manager on Warner’s Senate victory in 2008, and has managed Congressional campaigns in California and Ohio. Most recently, Abbey served as the Campaign Manager for Creigh Deeds´ gubernatorial campaign, scoring an upset victory in the 2009 Virginia primary.
Jared Kupiec, Deputy Campaign Manager/Political Director — A native of Woodstock, Kupiec graduated from Eastern Connecticut State University in 2001. He has served as campaign manager for four state senate and several municipal campaigns, where he managed budget and fundraising operations, field and outreach, and strategy and messaging development. Prior to joining the Lamont campaign, he worked at the Connecticut General Assembly as the clerk of the Government Administration and Elections committee and the administrator of the Municipal Ethics Task Force and Commission on Enhancing Agency Outcomes.
Jen Just, Director of Scheduling – Just served as Obama for America´s Coordinator for Connecticut´s 3rd Congressional District. She was hired as the Obama campaign´s only paid staffer in Connecticut for the General Election in 2008, and in 2009 was hired again as the State Director for Organizing for America. Prior to her campaign work, Just was a TV Producer covering government and politics.
Justine Sessions, Communications Director – A native of New Hartford, Sessions joins the Lamont team after five years on Capitol Hill, where she served in Senator Dodd´s press office, working both in D.C. and traveling with the Senator in Connecticut, and most recently as his Banking Committee Press Secretary.
Gabe Rosenberg, New Media Director – A graduate of UCONN Law School and Southern Connecticut State University, Rosenberg was a writer for the influential Connecticut blog CTLocalPolitics.com, covering Lamont´s historic win over Joe Lieberman in the 2006 Democratic Senate primary. Prior to joining the Lamont team, Rosenberg served as New Media Director for the Connecticut Democratic Party.
Wade Gibson, Policy Director – Gibson, a Yale Law student, comes to the campaign after serving as an energy and environment policy staffer for Representative Lloyd Doggett on Capitol Hill and working in Mayor Cory Booker’s Department of Economic and Housing Development in Newark.
Becca Slutzky, Field Director – Slutzky comes to the Lamont campaign after working last year´s race for Governor in Virginia, first for Terry McAuliffe and then as Deputy Political Director for Creigh Deeds. During the 2008 Presidential Campaign, Slutzky did more than a year of field work with Hillary Clinton´s campaign and worked to help Obama win the general election as Regional Field Director of the Virginia Coordinated Campaign.
Seth Bannon, Operations Director – Raised in Guilford, Bannon is a veteran of Lamont´s 2006 Senate campaign. He served as Deputy State Director for Students for Barack Obama when he was a student at Harvard before working field on the Obama campaign in Ohio during the General Election. Bannon was most recently the Operations Director and Regional Field Director for Alan Khazei’s run for the late Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat.
Lamont has also hired seasoned political advisors:
Media Consultant Doc Schweitzer of the Campaign Group
Pollster Fred Yang of Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group
Direct Mail Consultant Jim Crounse of the Mack-Crounse Group
