Tallahassee – Today, the Gillum for Governor Campaign announced its general election campaign leadership and senior staff, and Campaign Manager Brandon Davis made the following statement:
“The enthusiasm and activism of so many Floridians over the last two weeks has been inspiring, and this campaign isn’t letting up for a moment — we are going to take our message to every corner of the state. I’m proud of this team’s grit, toughness and determination to fight for Mayor Gillum and his policies that put Floridians first — good paying jobs, affordable health care, investing in our children, and common sense gun safety reform.”
- Brandon Davis, Campaign Manager
Brandon is a partner at GPSImpact who has been a top advisor to Mayor Gillum since November 2017 joined the campaign full-time as Campaign Manager. Brandon is a leading progressive strategist who brings broad experience in political advocacy, organizing and management to the campaign.
In 2016, Davis served as Chief of Staff at the Democratic National Committee and previously served nearly a decade in senior leadership positions at the Service Employees International Union.
Gillum for Governor Senior Strategic Advisors
- Scott Arceneaux
Scott Arceneaux is a veteran of Florida and southern politics who has advised Mayor Gillum since the launch of his campaign for mayor. From 2009 to 2017 he served as Executive Director of the Florida Democratic Party, a position he also held with the Louisiana Democratic Party from 2001 to 2004.
- Sharon Lettman-Hicks
Sharon is a longtime advisor to Mayor Gillum and a nationally recognized political strategist, and like Mayor Gillum, a proud FAMU alum. Sharon serves as CEO of the National Black Justice Coalition, and previously served in senior leadership roles at People For the American Way Foundation. In 2014, President Barack Obama named her to the President’s Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans.
- Sean Pittman
Sean Pittman is the Senior Partner and Chief Executive Officer of Pittman Law Group. A longtime advisor to Mayor Gillum, Pittman’s nationally respected law firm represents a diverse client list of individuals, local governments, small businesses and Fortune 500 companies. Sean is currently President and Chairman of the Orange Bowl Committee.
Gillum for Governor Senior Staff
- Cesar Fernandez, Deputy Campaign Manager for PoliticalCesar spent the last 4 years working on the Public Policy team at Uber. Prior to that, he served as Political Director for Governor Charlie Crist’s 2014 bid and managed Mayor Rick Kriseman’s 2013 campaign.
- Joshua Karp, Deputy Campaign Manager for CommunicationsJoshua has run communications for Rep. Patrick Murphy’s 2016 U.S. Senate campaign, the Florida Democratic Party, Rep. Lois Frankel, and most recently the super-PAC American Bridge 21st Century.
- Zach Learner, Deputy Campaign Manager for OperationsZach managed Chris King’s gubernatorial campaign, served as director of voter protection for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign in Florida and served on both Obama presidential campaigns.
- Roxey Nelson, Deputy Campaign Manager for Organizing
Roxey Nelson is a longtime grassroots organizer in Florida, most recently serving as Florida Director of Politics and Strategic Campaigns at SEIU 1199, which represents more than 25,000 health care workers in Florida.
- Courtney Whitney, Deputy Campaign Manager for FinanceCourtney most recently worked for Mayor Philip Levine, and previously worked for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Florida campaign.
- Carlie Waibel, Deputy Communications DirectorCarlie served on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign in Florida, Charlie Crist’s 2014 governor’s campaign, for Senator Bill Nelson, and previously managed public affairs for Uber in New England.
Gillum for Governor Consulting Team
Jon Adrabi, Senior Advisor
A longtime Florida strategist and fundraiser, Jon most recently served as the Deputy National Finance Director for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign overseeing all finance operations in Southeastern United States.
Karen Andre, Senior Advisor
Karen is an attorney and a veteran of Florida and national politics, having served on President Obama’s 2012 campaign in Florida, on the 57th Presidential Inaugural Committee, and as a presidential appointee in the Obama administration.
John Anzalone, Anzalone Liszt Grove Research, Polling
John has over twenty-five years of polling experience and has polled for the presidential campaigns of both Barack Obama (2008 & 2012) and Hillary Clinton (2016) and his strong ties to Florida include polling for the campaigns of Rep. Gwen Graham (2014 & 2018) and Charlie Crist (2014).
Kevin Cate, CATECOMM, Paid Media
Kevin is a veteran of Florida politics and media consultant for some of the largest corporations, associations, and campaigns in the country. Kevin has been an advisor to Gillum since his 2014 campaign for mayor, a race on which he also produced the television ads. Senior Gillum staffer Geoff Burgan will be joining CATECOMM as a senior communications consultant to the Gillum campaign.
Mattis Goldman, Three Point Media, Paid Media
Mattis has served as a key strategist for a wide range of successful campaigns, creating winning advertising for the DGA, the DCCC, governors, senators and attorney generals, including Florida’s current attorney general race.
Jim Kottmeyer, GPSImpact, Digital
Jim Kottmeyer is a veteran of dozens of campaigns, specializing in large grassroots and issue advocacy organizing. GPSImpact is a nationally recognized digital strategy firm known for crafting integrated solutions for races across the country.
Doug Thornell, SKDKnickerbocker, Communications
Doug develops and manages strategic communications, crisis management, and earned and paid media campaigns for political committees and candidates, progressive organizations, civil rights groups and Fortune 100 companies. He has served as senior advisor to the Democratic National Committee, senior advisor to Sen. Chris Van Hollen, lead spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, senior aide at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, traveling press secretary for Gov. Howard Dean’s presidential campaign, and communications director for the Congressional Black Caucus.
Ed Peavy, Mission Control, Direct Mail
Ed is a twenty-year veteran of Democratic campaigns who has been with the Gillum campaign since its launch. His experience includes Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, as well as successfully guiding and advising senators, governors, and members of Congress, including Rep. Patrick Murphy (2014 & 2016) and Amb. Nancy Soderberg.
Christian Ulvert, Edge Communications, Spanish-Language Media
Christian is the founder and president of EDGE Communications, a leading Florida public affairs firm. Previously, Christian served the Florida House of Representatives as communications director and policy advisor to House Democratic Leader Dan Gelber during his two-year leadership term.
Roosevelt Holmes, Political Director
Roosevelt most recently served as senior advisor to the Florida Democratic Party, and previously served on President Obama’s 2008 Florida campaign and Jerry Demings’ campaign for Orange County mayor.
Johanna Cervone, Communications Director
Johanna most recently served as executive director of communications for University of Miami President Julio Frenk. She previously served as communications director for the Florida Democratic Party and on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign in Florida.
Kirsten Allen, Deputy Communications Director
Kirsten most recently served as communications director to Mahlon Mitchell’s campaign for governor in Wisconsin. Previously, she served on Hillary Clinton’s press team in Florida in 2016.
Philip Jerez, Statewide Deputy Political Director
Phillip Jerez was the Political Director for Gillum’s primary campaign and is now a Deputy Political Director for the general election run. Jerez was previously with Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s District Office, and is a Teach for America alum, having taught at Miami Central Senior High School.
Susannah Randolph, Statewide Constituency Outreach Director
Susannah Randolph will take a leave of absence from the Sierra Club to run Mayor Gillum’s statewide constituency outreach program. Randolph was a former congressional candidate and District Director for Congressman Alan Grayson. In addition to managing a team of outreach staff, Randolph will be the lead for Women for Gillum.
Juan Cuba, Hispanic Outreach Director
Juan is the Chair of the Miami-Dade Democratic Party. He was worked on the field teams on both of President Obama’s campaigns and was a presidential appointee at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Alicia Stallworth, African American & Caribbean Outreach Director
Alicia was the campaign manager for Nikki Fried’s campaign for Agriculture Commissioner. Before that she was the campaign manager for Bob Poe’s congressional campaign and worked on the Finance team for Governor Charlie Crist’s 2014 campaign.
Manny Orozco-Ballestas, Youth Outreach Director
Manny was the Youth Outreach Director for Phillip Levine’s gubernatorial campaign. Prior to his stint at the Levine campaign, Manny worked on the organizing teams of NextGen, Jonathan Ossoff for Congress, and Hillary Clinton for America.
Consultants
Millie Raphael, MBA, Statewide Hispanic Outreach Consultant
Millie Raphael is President of International Assessment Systems, an international assessment and diagnostic company. She is also a Florida activist working with diverse grassroots, legislative and political organizations such as Women’s March, MomsDemand and RiseUp Florida.
Hava Holzhauer, Statewide Jewish Outreach Consultant
Hava is the CEO and Principal consultant at Transformative Communications and Management LLC. Prior to starting her own firm, she was the Regional Executive Director for the Anti-Defamation League and the General Counsel at the United Elder Care Services.
Omar Khan, Senior Advisor
Omar most recently served as senior advisor on Chris King’s gubernatorial campaign. Khan managed Charlie Crist’s campaign in 2014 and served in numerous positions in the Obama administration, including roles with the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, Environmental Protection Agency and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.
