Joe Biden's re-election campaign takes shape: three major additions in one week

Despite some delays and setbacks in the announcement, Joe Biden confirmed that he will seek re-election on April 25. Since then, his campaign has been characterized by austerity and a small staff of four people. However, after announcing a , the president made three key hires to shape the team that will try to get him four more years in the White House.

As of mid-July, Biden only had Julie Chavez Rodriguez (director), Quentin Fulks (deputy director), Maury Riggan (general counsel) and Kevin Munoz (spokesperson) as members of his campaign team. In total, spending in the second quarter was $1.1 million, an amount even lower than that of several Senate candidates.

The approach is very different from that of past presidents, one of them being Barack Obama. At the same point in 2011, while awaiting a Republican rival, the campaign of the then-White House tenant had disbursed some $11 million.

According to POLITICO, the incumbent has a lot of confidence in the Democratic National Committee. "Unlike Obama, Biden enjoys a plentiful DNC, and his campaign is leaning heavily on the national party in this first phase of the election. According to Biden's advisors, the goal is to run an efficient operation that spreads the costs across the board. The DNC has more than 300 employees, an aide said, and the organization's communications, fundraising and research teams are especially involved in Biden's re-election," they explained.

New additions to the Biden campaign

The campaign's star signings were Rufus Gifford, a former ambassador to Denmark who will join as finance chairman for Biden-Harris 2024, Chris Korge, now finance chairman of the Biden-Harris 2024 Biden Victory Fund (the president's largest fundraising committee) and Cedric Richmond, new campaign co-chair.

"Our campaign is off to a strong start, securing early endorsements and unified support from the entire Biden-Harris coalition, and a historic quarter for our fundraising operation," celebrated Chávez Rodríguez in a statement.

"This team has already demonstrated its ability to think outside the box to raise money and build support across the country for the President and Vice President. With this talented team at the helm, I am confident that our campaign will have the resources it needs to win again in 2024," she added.