Warren announces expansion of presidential campaign

White House hopeful Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) announced Tuesday that her campaign is expanding as she enjoys a surge in national and statewide primary polls.

The staff hires, which are accompanied by an eight-figure ad buy in early primary and caucus states, were laid out in a memo to supporters by campaign manager Roger Lau and will be focused in states that have tight congressional or local races. 

{mosads}“Remember: this election is about more than just beating Donald Trump — he’s just the worst symptom of a corrupt system,” Lau wrote. “If we want to make big, structural change, we need to make sure Democrats control the U.S. House and Senate and win important gubernatorial and state legislative races across the country.” 

The Warren campaign, which already has beefy staffs across the country, said it will expand in Illinois and California, where Democrats flipped House seats in the 2018 midterms, and Georgia and Maine, which will have a combined three competitive Senate races in 2020. It is also hiring up in Michigan and Minnesota to help make gains in state legislatures and in Texas and Florida, two states Democrats hope to flip in the 2020 general election.

Beyond increasing its physical presence in certain states, the campaign hopes to expand its volunteers’ reach with a canvassing app to help facilitate conversations with voters. 

“This is how we dream big, fight hard, and win. We’ve got a plan to make sure Elizabeth is the next president of the United States. And when she’s in the Oval Office — when our plans go from big ideas to reality with the help of this grassroots movement — I want you to know that you helped make it happen,” Lau told supporters. 

The latest expenditures suggest Warren’s surge in the polls is being accompanied by a fundraising bump. After a sluggish start, Warren raised over $19.1 million in the second quarter of the year.

The Massachusetts Democrat cemented her status as a frontrunner of the presidential primary pack this week with a poll in Iowa and one in New Hampshire showing her leapfrogging former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for the lead in the crucial early nominating states.

The Real Clear Politics polling index shows her pulling over 2.5 points ahead of Sanders but still trailing Biden by about 10 points.