Key aides leave Hickenlooper’s presidential campaign

Key aides are leaving former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper’s (D) presidential campaign, according to multiple reports. 

Campaign manager Brad Komar and national finance director Dan Sorenson have left the campaign, The Associated Press noted. Communications director Lauren Hitt also told the AP that she is planning to exit the campaign, which has struggled to gain traction, in the coming weeks.

{mosads}Sorenson will join Beto O’Rourke’s presidential campaign, the former Texas congressman’s campaign told Politico. 

According to the AP, Hickenlooper’s team also announced the hiring of a new campaign manger, M.E. Smith. 

The Hill has reached out to Hickenlooper’s campaign for comment. 

The departures follow the end of the second fundraising quarter. The AP reports that Hickenlooper is expected not to reach the 130,000 donors necessary to qualify for later debates, although he did appear in the first Democratic debates last week. 

Hickenlooper, who has taken on a more moderate stance than other Democratic candidates, was booed last month after he denounced socialism at an event in San Francisco. 

Hickenlooper entered the presidential race in March and during the first quarter raised a little more than $2 million, according to Federal Election Commission data. 

He is among the more than two dozen people vying for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.