Dem super-PAC makes new hires

The Democratic super-PAC Priorities USA Action will announce a number of leadership hires on Friday, as it pivots to serve as a surrogate for Hillary Clinton ahead of 2016.

The group  announced a new executive director and a financial adviser in a release Friday.

{mosads}Buffy Wicks, who worked on President Obama’s 2012 campaign, will serve as executive director for the group. She currently works at the liberal Center for American Politics. 

Jonathan Mantz will serve as a financial adviser for the group. He worked as Clinton’s finance director during her first presidential campaign and now holds a position at BRG Government Affairs. 

The Democratic group, which was formed in 2011 and raised nearly $80 million for Obama’s reelection campaign last year, is aimed at countering GOP outside spending groups, which gave Republicans an advantage in 2012.

Former Obama aides Sean Sweeney and Bill Burton formed the group, and Sweeney, who also has ties to Hillary Clinton, continues to serve as an adviser.  

A report in The Washington Post last August found Priorities USA aimed to carve out a niche separate from the more grassroots based organization Ready for Hillary, which is backing a Clinton run. 

Priorities USA Action, according to the report, aimed to focus on high-dollar donors, while Ready for Hillary keyed in on smaller donors and organizational support. 

Ready for Hillary announced earlier this week it had raised $4 million in 2013. It has limited itself to maximum donations of $25,000. 

Clinton is seen as the early favorite for the Democratic nomination, and a number of Democratic lawmakers have encouraged her to run. She has said she will make a decision about a 2016 run later this year. 

—This post was updated at 12 p.m.