Brunner Unveils Campaign Staff

In an email that just went out, Senate candidate Jennifer Brunner unveiled more members of her campaign staff.

• Campaign Manager: David Dettman
• National Finance Director: Jennifer Swanson
• In-State Finance Director: Nicole Eynard
• Polling: Lake Research Partners
• Media Consultants: Dane Strother, David Heller

In the email, the campaign states that they’re totals are likely to be less than Fisher’s, but point out that he’s been raising longer and that it’s likely some of that money is limited to the general election.

Here’s the email (with important parts in bold):

The campaign is headed by David Dettman of Cleveland, Ohio.  Dettman has helped elect leaders both across the world and in Ohio. Most recently he directed Progressive Majority's Ohio office following work for former Secretary of State Madeline Albright's organization, the National Democratic Institute, for which he undertook political campaign and election work in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Jennifer Swanson is the national finance director for Brunner's campaign. Swanson brings extensive background raising funds for campaigns, Party committees, independent organizations, and non-profit organizations. She was the national finance director for John Edwards' presidential race, where she developed and oversaw the execution of the campaign's strategic fundraising plan and day-to-day operations. She previously raised money for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), People for the American Way, and Emily's List.

Swanson is joined by Nicole Eynard, who is the campaign's in-state finance director. Eynard previously worked on Claire McCaskill's campaign for Governor in 2004 and her successful U.S. Senate race in 2005-2006. Last cycle Eynard raised money for Missouri congressional challenger Kay Barnes; Barnes ended up being among the top five nationally in terms of money raised by a congressional challenger.

Lake Research Partners will be undertaking polling for the campaign. The firm is headed by trusted polling veteran, Celinda Lake, who is considered America's preeminent expert in electing women to statewide office.  Lake's clients include U.S. Senators Jon Tester-Mt, Mary Landrieu-La., Blanche Lincoln-Ark., Debbie Stabenow-MI, and Barbara Mikulski-Md.

Brunner's media consultants are Dane Strother and David Heller, who teamed up especially for Brunner's campaign.  Strother has worked with Lake to elect Landrieu, Lincoln, Atlanta's Mayor Shirley Franklin, who like Brunner won the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage award, and New Mexico Attorney General Gary King.  Strother also helped elect a third Profile in Courage recipient, former Georgia Governor Roy Barnes.  Heller has compiled the best won-loss record of all Democratic consultants over the past decade in terms of helping his clients win open seat races for Congress; he also has significant Ohio experience, including wins for U.S. Representatives Marcy Kaptur and Dennis Kucinich.

"I'm pleased to be working with a team of this caliber and synergy. Our team is one with vision and a unique understanding of the changing nature of political campaigns that proved to be so successful in the 2008 election cycle," Brunner said.

With new media and fund raising staff in place for the last month, Brunner quickly proved competitive.  Her online fund raising numbers exceeded her principal primary opponent, Ohio Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher, in both amount and number of donors.  Final quarter figures for roughly the month she has raised funds since announcing her candidacy are to be released April 15.  Fisher's overall numbers for the quarter are expected to exceed Brunner's, with the help of funds from his previously formed exploratory committee and significant "double max" funds raised for the general election but unavailable for use in next year's primary election.