Biden's latest move in Florida? Sending 3 Democratic operatives to the front lines

MIAMI — President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign is tapping three veteran Democratic operatives to head up its efforts in Florida amid a deeper debate over whether the state remains in play for Democrats in the November elections.

Jasmine Burney-Clark, the founder and former director of Equal Ground Education Fund and Action Fund, will serve as Biden’s Florida state director, the campaign said, while Florida Democratic Party Executive Director Phillip Jerez and strategist Jackie Lee will take on senior adviser roles.

“Jasmine, Phillip and Jackie are proven operatives who have been on the front lines pushing back against Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans in Florida,” Biden’s campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodriguez said in a statement.

The announcement, which was first reported Friday by Politico Florida, is the second major campaign rollout for Biden this week. On Wednesday, second gentleman Doug Emhoff traveled to Coral Gables to launch the campaign’s Hispanic outreach initiative, Latinos con Biden, in Florida.

Biden’s Florida leadership team brings three veterans of the state’s politics into the president’s formal campaign structure.

Burney-Clark previously worked as a senior adviser to the NAACP and state Sen. Geraldine Thompson. Jerez has held top roles in high-profile Florida campaigns, including Charlie Crist’s 2022 run for governor and former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum’s 2018 gubernatorial bid.

Lee served as Biden’s Florida state director in 2020 and held state leadership roles on former President Barack Obama’s successful 2008 and 2012 campaigns in Florida.

Still, there are questions about just how big of a role Florida will play in the November presidential election, given the state’s rightward shift in recent years. Biden lost Florida to former President Donald Trump in 2020, and Gov. Ron DeSantis scored a massive 19-point reelection win in the state in 2022 that was widely seen as devastating to Democrats.

While Election Day is still roughly seven months away, nearly every recent poll of the state shows Trump beating Biden in a head-to-head matchup. The Biden campaign has indicated that it still plans to contest Florida, but it’s unclear exactly how much effort and money the president’s team and its allied groups are willing to give to win the state.

After the launch of Latinos con Biden in Florida on Wednesday, the campaign launched a round of targeted digital ads in Miami-Dade County and the Tampa area.

Nikki Fried, the chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party, applauded the Biden campaign’s leadership team hires on Friday and insisted that Florida remains in play for Democrats.

“Florida is the battleground for all our rights and freedoms and we are leading the fight to protect democracy — not just for our state but for the entire country,” Fried said in a statement. “Phillip, Jackie, and Jasmine understand that we are the last line of defense and are ready to prove all the critics wrong. Florida is winnable and worth fighting for.”

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