Kamala Harris bringing more staff to Iowa for second time in two months

NEWTON, Ia. — Hours after a campaign memo outlined cutting staff and shifting resources to Iowa, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris insisted she remains a “top tier” presidential candidate.

“I fully intend to win,” she told reporters Wednesday night before speaking at a house party in Newton. “It is not going to be easy — I knew that from day one, and I made that very clear from day one.”

Harris faced a wave of questions from reporters about whether her campaign is still viable after a leaked memo from Campaign Manager Juan Rodriguez showed Harris’ staff is cutting jobs from her headquarters. Rodriguez wrote that, in addition to some job eliminations, he and other key staffers will take pay cuts.

He also announced that the campaign would inject more resources into Iowa before the first-in-the-nation caucus. Staffers from other early primary states like New Hampshire and Nevada will come here. So will employees from California, Harris’ home state.

Rodriguez wrote that some of the funding cuts are necessary so the campaign has enough money for a seven-figure ad buy in Iowa in the weeks before the Feb. 3 caucus.

Despite high expectations at the beginning of her campaign, including a launch event in Oakland that drew 22,000 people, Harris insisted Wednesday that she has always felt like an underdog in this race. Unlike other candidates, she pointed out, she had not run for president before and did not have a long donor list from which to draw. She also said she didn’t have enough money to throw $10 million of her own funds into the campaign to give herself a boost.

“It never was supposed to be easy,” she said. “I’m running for president of the United States. But from where I stand right now, knowing the kind of support we have in Iowa and from other states where we are still very much committed to being, I do believe that we have a path and we are on a path in order to win the nomination.”

This is the second time in two months that her campaign staff has announced a new boost to the Iowa campaign, hoping to build some momentum before moving on to other states.

In late September, Harris’ team said it would more than double its paid staff here, bringing its total to 131. They also said they would increase the number of offices in Iowa from seven to 17. Harris' Iowa campaign officials have not said how many new paid staff is coming here in this second influx, nor what type of workers they will be.

Iowa has been a second home to Harris since them. (A reporter overheard her telling another member of Congress “I’m (expletive) moving to Iowa in late September.) In October, she has visited the state five times and spent 15 days here. In his memo, Rodriguez wrote that Harris would spend Thanksgiving here next month.

After the late September staffing surge, Harris said she was shooting for a top-three finish in Iowa. Asked Wednesday what she will do if she misses that mark, Harris said, “Have that conversation with me after the caucuses.” She gave a similar response when asked whether Wednesday’s announcement jeopardizes her chances to compete in the other early states.

Other recent coverage of Kamala campaigning in Iowa:

• From Sept. 21: Kamala Harris is more visible, but unfavorable rating has grown with likely caucusgoers, according to Iowa Poll
• From Oct. 7: Polling in single-digits, Kamala Harris concentrates on intimate settings during Iowa trip
• From Oct. 17: Kamala Harris to Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg: 'This is not a matter of free speech'
• Also Wednesday: Kamala Harris talks bluntly about race: 'Apparently, probable cause is being black in your own room'

Harris’ campaign parlayed the news into another fundraising opportunity. Rodriguez shared his internal memo with supporters in a mass email, writing that the news shows how badly the campaign needs more funding. Without using their names, he contrasted his outreach to that of U.S. Sen. Cory Booker and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, both of whom told supporters they would drop out of the race if they didn’t meet funding goals by various deadlines.

“No, this is not a gimmick,” Rodriguez wrote. “These are the real consequences of the fundraising challenges we’re facing in a primary race that’s this crowded.”

Harris will continue her latest swing through Iowa on Thursday afternoon with a forum at the Des Moines Area Community College’s Ankeny campus.

Tyler Jett covers jobs and the economy for the Register. Contact him at 515-284-8215 and tjett@registermedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LetsJett.

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