The video of Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D) getting followed in a public restroom on ASU’s campus in Phoenix is troubling viewing for any practitioner in the industry, but perhaps more so for managers planning to hire campaign staff in the next 12 months.
While staffers don’t get recognized the same way a high-profile officeholder does, they still get targeted for vitriol from the other side. This boiling-over environment is making recruitment a big challenge, but that’s not the only issue, according to Eric Wilson, a GOP digital consultant and podcaster.
“It’s going to be hard for campaigns to be competitive with the salaries that someone could get as a freelancer just because being a campaign manager or a political director on a campaign is not as prestigious as it was a couple of cycles ago because it has gotten so [hostile]. These staffers are dealing with angry voters on both sides,” he said.
“It was previously the case that you really demanded loyalty and you had to be all in, but the tumultuous nature of campaigns makes that not an appealing prospect for people. What’s contributing to this is that it’s easier than ever to do remote work — through Zoom and cloud computing, you can be anywhere and have the same speed as if you were in an office.”
Wilson has some advice for managers struggling to find the right candidates: start by allowing remote work. “The notion of moving across the country, across the state is not appealing,” he said. “You need to understand the work styles of Gen Z and Millennials.”
Moreover, consider hiring candidates who don’t have traditional political backgrounds and seek out vendors who are “willing to coach up professionals.”
Finally, open up the process in order to cast the widest net possible. “For a long time, campaign staffing and recruitment has been secretive,” he said. “You don’t want people to know you’re going to hire a communications director — so I think campaigns and candidates need to get over the secrecy and the cloak-and-dagger stuff.”
In other words, you won’t be able to secretly recruit the best of the best. If you’re running, and are hiring, don’t be shy about getting the word out. “Candidates should search for talent nationwide,” he said. “There are lots of really good resources to do that.”
