Billionaire philanthropist Tom Steyer is putting out feelers on the professional networking website LinkedIn for several high-level campaign staffers in three crucial early-voting states.
The posting, which seeks applications for state director jobs in New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, was posted last week under an anonymous account.
But the job listing provides one hint that it came from Steyer: it describes “a high profile campaign based on the West Coast.” Steyer lives in California. A spokesperson for Steyer confirmed to The Hill on Wednesday that the post came from the Democratic donor’s team.
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“As Tom has said publicly — he is considering how he can have the most impact in 2020 and our team is exploring staffing options should he decide to move forward with a run,”
“Tom has not made a final decision and any discussions with potential staff are preliminary.”
The job listing is the latest move from Steyer suggesting that he’s preparing to mount a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020. The posting was first confirmed to be linked to Steyer by BuzzFeed News.
The former hedge fund manager has already made a name for himself in Democratic circles as a deep-pocketed and vocal donor. Beyond that, he’s been crisscrossing the country in recent weeks, rolling out his “5 rights” — a sort of early policy platform — in town hall events.
The LinkedIn posting is somewhat unusual for a possible presidential campaign. Would-be candidates mulling White House runs tend to vet potential staffers quietly as they seek to build the infrastructure for a nationwide campaign.
Other rumored 2020 contenders have been assembling teams discreetly in recent months and dispatching staffers and resources to notable early-voting states, like New Hampshire and Iowa.
Steyer’s posting says that applicants “must have strong communication skills, a commitment to progressive change, great work ethic and professionalism,” and also lists “experience working on Presidential campaigns” as a valuable quality.