Ben Carson presidential campaign key staff and advisors, 2016
- See also: Ben Carson presidential campaign, 2016
Ben Carson was a Republican candidate for the office of president of the United States in 2016. Carson, a retired pediatric neurosurgeon, gained popularity with conservatives after his speech at the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast, where he expressed his dissatisfaction with President Barack Obama's policies and the direction of the country.[1]
At age 33, Carson became the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University, making him the youngest major division director in the hospital's history.[2] He was also a professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery and pediatric medicine.[3]
On May 3, 2015, Carson announced his bid for the presidency, a day before his scheduled campaign kickoff in Detroit, Michigan. "I’m willing to be a part of the equation, and, therefore, I’m announcing my candidacy for president of the United States," Carson said in an interview with Sinclair Broadcasting.[4]
Carson announced that he had formed a presidential exploratory committee on March 3, 2015. He said, "I very much need and look forward to your feedback and help. All of us are frustrated with the way Washington has let us down. The career politicians simply don't understand the disappointment, anger and pain in real America. As they cater to the special interests first, they don't even seem to care about how failed policies actually affect us, the people of the United States. I think it's time for us to show them how much we do care about the job they are doing. ...If I believe that I have your support and your commitment to help, I will run for president to lead this great country to a brighter future."[5] Only three previous presidents had held no prior political office: Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, and Dwight Eisenhower.[6]
On March 2, 2016, a day after Carson failed to win any states in the Super Tuesday Republican primary contests, his campaign released a statement saying it could "not see a political path forward in light of last evening's Super Tuesday primary results." Carson stated his intentions not to attend the eleventh Republican debate on March 3, 2016, and said he planned to make an announcement about his political future on March 4, 2016.[7] On March 4, 2016, he announced the suspension of his campaign. Carson stated, "Even though I might be leaving the campaign trail, you know there’s a lot of people who love me, they just won’t vote for me. But I will still continue to be heavily involved in trying to save our nation."[8][9]
Key staff and advisors
Carson significantly revamped his campaign staff at the very end of 2015. Approximately 20 staffers left the campaign, including campaign manager Barry Bennett.[10] On January 11, 2016, two additional top-tier staffers left the campaign for reasons related to the departure of Barry Bennett.[11]
The table below details some of the key staff and advisors for Ben Carson's 2016 presidential campaign at the time the campaign was suspended in March 2016. The leftmost column indicates the individual staff member or advisor. The middle column details that individual's relationship to Carson's 2016 campaign. The final column indicates the individual's political experience prior to Carson's campaign. More detailed profiles of individuals can be found by clicking the links in the leftmost column.
| Ben Carson key staff and advisors | ||
|---|---|---|
| Individual | Role | Previous Experience |
| Armstrong Williams | Business manager | |
| Ed Brookover | Campaign manager | •Republican National Committee •National Republican Senatorial Committee •National Republican Congressional Committee |
| G. Michael Brown | National field director | •Brian Munzlinger 2010 Missouri Senate |
| Ruth Sherlock | South Carolina state director | •Joseph Cao 2008 U.S. House •Newt Gingrich 2012 presidential |
| Ryan Rhodes | Iowa strategist | •2008 candidate for Iowa State House •Dave Funk 2010 U.S. House •Michele Bachmann 2012 presidential |
Departures
Barry Bennett
Bennett departed the Carson campaign in the closing days of 2015. Carson explained the change, saying, "Well, first of all, whenever you have something that is not working the way you want it to, you have a few choices. You can double down on it, you can ignore it, or you can analyze it and make appropriate changes."[12]
Bennett said that he left the campaign over differences with Carson advisor Armstrong Williams. Bennett also said that when Carson told the Washington Post in a late-December 2015 interview that his campaign was in disarray, that this "was one of the stupidest things I've ever seen a candidate do."[13]
Renee Burchard
The departure of Renee Burchard from the Carson campaign was announced on January 11, 2016. Burchard served as operations director for the campaign prior to her departure. Anonymous sources within the campaign attributed her departure to "allegiances to former campaign manager Barry Bennett."[11]
Terry Giles
In mid-November 2015, it became known to the media that Terry Giles was no longer involved with the Carson campaign. Giles is a long-time friend of Carson. He was a leader in the Carson exploratory committee and he also hired "most of the key Carson campaign staffers".[14]
Campaign insiders, speaking to the press on the condition of anonymity, said that Giles had been "shut out" of the campaign in the weeks leading up to his departure. Giles denied those reports.[14][15]
Bill Millis
Bill Millis, one of Ben Carson’s top fundraisers, announced on December 2, 2015, that he was leaving Carson’s campaign because of conflict with other staffers. “I disagree with the campaign, but I’m hoping and praying that the concerns I have are wrong. I’m one, and they are the masses. And they decided to move forward with the campaign as is,” Millis said. Barry Bennett, Carson’s campaign manager, said of Millis’ exit, “Mr. Millis is a member of the corporate board. Today, he resigned that position. He had no role in the campaign, and his departure will not alter the campaign in any way."[16]
Doug Watts
In a late December 2015 staff shake-up, communications strategist Doug Watts left the campaign.[13]
Michael Zarlenga
The departure of Michael Zarlenga from the Carson campaign was announced on January 11, 2016. Zarlenga served as general counsel for the campaign prior to his departure. Anonymous sources within the campaign attributed his departure to "allegiances to former campaign manager Barry Bennett."[11]
Hiring timeline for key staff and advisors
- Note: In this timeline, the most recent events appear first.
- On January 11, 2016, Carson announced three new members of his campaign’s leadership team: Larry Ross as the campaign’s communications director; Colonel Christopher Bourne as director of policy; Jason Osborne as senior communications strategist.[17]
- January 11, 2016: Carson's general counsel Michael Zarlenga left the campaign, as did operations director Renee Burchard.[11]
- Early January 2016: Christopher Bourne, a retired Marine Corps colonel, was hired as director of policy, and Jason Osborne signed on as a senior communications strategist.[18]
- Early January 2016: Larry A. Ross, a former spokesperson for evangelist Billy Graham, was hired as communications director for the Carson campaign.[11]
- Last days of 2015: Approximately 20 staffers left the campaign. Some were fired and some resigned. Departing staffers included campaign manager Barry Bennett and communications strategist Doug Watts.[10]
- December 2, 2015: Bill Millis, a top fundraiser for Carson, announced that he was departing the campaign because of conflict with other staffers.
- Mid-November 2015: Terry Giles exited the campaign.
- On May 3, 2015, Carson announced his presidential campaign and G. Michael Brown became the national field director.[19]
- On March 3, 2015, Barry Bennett was named the head of the exploratory committee for a Ben Carson presidential campaign.[20] When Carson officially announced his presidential campaign on May 3, 2015, Bennett transitioned to the role of campaign manager.[21]
- On March 3, 2015, Carson formed an exploratory committee for a possible presidential run, and Ed Brookover was named a senior strategist for the committee.[22] When Carson announced his candidacy on May 5, 2015, Brookover maintained his position in the campaign.[23]
- On March 3, 2015, Doug Watts joined Carson's 2016 presidential campaign as communications director "overseeing media, advertising and social media activities."[24]
- In February 2015, Ruth Sherlock joined Carson's presidential campaign as the South Carolina state director.[25]
- January 2015: Ryan Rhodes joined Carson's campaign as the exploratory committee's connection to Tea Party activists. Of Carson's candidacy, Rhodes said: "He is the embodiment of the American dream and there's no better person to advocate restoring the American dream than Ben."[26]
Noteworthy events
Foreign policy comments
In November 2015, two of Ben Carson’s foreign policy advisors told The New York Times that Carson “struggled to master the intricacies of the Middle East and national security and that intense tutoring was having little effect.” Duane R. Clarridge, one of Carson’s advisors, said, “Nobody has been able to sit down with him and have him get one iota of intelligent information about the Middle East.”[27] In response to the article in The New York Times, Doug Watts, a Carson campaign spokesman, wrote in an email: "Mr. Clarridge has incomplete knowledge of the daily, not weekly briefings, that Dr. Carson receives on important national security matters from former military and State Department officials. He is coming to the end of a long career of serving our country. Mr. Clarridge's input to Dr. Carson is appreciated but he is clearly not one of Dr. Carson's top advisors. For the New York Times to take advantage of an elderly gentleman and use him as their foil in this story is an affront to good journalistic practices."[28]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Ben Carson Campaign Staff. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Ben Carson
- Ben Carson presidential campaign key staff and advisors experience, 2016
- Ben Carson presidential campaign, 2016
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Washington Times, "A ‘very upset’ W.H. told Dr. Carson to apologize for prayer breakfast speech," accessed February 4, 2015
- ↑ OCU, “Dr. Ben Carson - Youngest Major Division Director in Johns Hopkins History," accessed December 23, 2014
- ↑ Johns Hopkins, “A Healer Beyond the Operating Room," accessed December 23, 2014
- ↑ Politico, "Ben Carson says he will run for president," May 3, 2015
- ↑ YouTube.com, "Ben Carson Announces Exploratory Committee," accessed March 10, 2015
- ↑ International Business Times, "Herman Cain Candidacy: No Precedent for a President Without Political Experience," October 3, 2011
- ↑ Politico, "Carson says he sees no 'political path' to GOP nomination," March 2, 2016
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedsuspend - ↑ Politico, "Ben Carson announces campaign is over," February 4, 2016
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 CNN Politics, "Ben Carson tries to salvage campaign", January 1, 2016
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Bloomberg, "Two More Staffers Said to Depart Carson Campaign", January 11, 2016
- ↑ Politico, "Ben Carson explains campaign shakeup", January 3, 2016
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Reuters, "Republican Carson's campaign manager, 20 staff quit", January 1, 2016
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Bloomberg News, "Ben Carson Adviser 'Shut Out' as Campaign Rises", November 13, 2015
- ↑ Texas Tribune, "Carson Adviser: Depiction of His Role a 'Back-Stabbing Lie'", November 13, 2015
- ↑ Washington Examiner, "Top Fundraiser Quits Ben Carson’s Campaign Amid Internal Strife," December 2, 2015
- ↑ Ben Carson campaign website, "Dr. Ben Carson Strengthens Campaign Leadership and Announces New Senior Staff Members", January 11, 2016
- ↑ CBS Local, "Carson Adds Carrollton Man To Campaign Senior Staff," January 12, 2016
- ↑ Washington Examiner, "Outsider Ben Carson staffs campaign with GOP insiders," May 6, 2015
- ↑ Columbus Dispatch, "Portman adviser to head Carson's presidential exploratory campaign," March 3, 2015
- ↑ USA Today, "Report: Ben Carson to run for president," May 3, 2015
- ↑ Politico, "Ben Carson’s general election strategy," March 3, 2015
- ↑ Breitbart News, "Dr. Ben Carson Announces He's Running for President in Detroit ," May 4, 2015
- ↑ Fox News, "Ben Carson forms presidential exploratory committee," March 3, 2015
- ↑ Time, "Ben Carson Picks South Carolina State Director," February 12, 2015
- ↑ CNN, "Carson camp brings on former Bachmann staffer in Iowa," January 16, 2015
- ↑ New York Times, "Ben Carson Is Struggling to Grasp Foreign Policy, Advisers Say," November 17, 2015
- ↑ Business Insider, "Ben Carson's campaign slams bombshell New York Times report as 'affront to good journalistic practices'," November 17, 2015
