Jamal Simmons, a longtime Democratic Party strategist and frequent cable commentator, has been tapped to lead communications for Vice President Kamala Harris.
A White House official confirmed Simmons’s appointment to the Washington Examiner on Thursday.
The move follows a slew of high-profile departures among the vice president’s top communications staff less than one year into office. Simmons is expected “to really change things up,” a source familiar with his appointment told the Hill.
A Detroit, Michigan, native, Simmons arrives in Harris’s office with decades of political communications and campaign experience, including on former President Bill Clinton’s traveling press team during his 1992 presidential campaign and as deputy communications director for Al Gore’s presidential campaign.
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He held additional presidential campaign roles for southern-state Democratic candidates, including former Sen. Bob Graham of Florida and retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark during their unsuccessful primary nomination bids. During the Clinton administration, served as an aide to U.S. Trade Representative and Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor.
Simmons’s appointment follows a rocky first year in office for Harris, with the vice president facing increased scrutiny over her political prospects if President Joe Biden chooses not to seek reelection in 2024.
Reports of dysfunction inside her office have drawn attention to the turnover, and low job approval numbers, 32% according to a recent USA Today/Suffolk University poll, point to broader challenges with voters.
Democratic colleagues, including some who competed against Harris during her ill-fated presidential bid in 2020, last month traveled to early voting states, visits interpreted as an early sign of interest in a possible bid.
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Biden has said publicly that he intends to run for reelection, but polls display interest among voters for a shift from the White House leadership. A November NPR/PBS survey showed nearly half of Democrats and liberal-leaning independents preferred someone other than the president on the next Democratic ticket, with 44%, compared to 36% who called Biden their favored option. Twenty percent were unsure.
