Sanders Campaign Press Release - Sanders Announces Campaign Management Team With Strong Vermont, Grassroots Experience

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday announced that he has named two long-time Vermont aides to key positions on his presidential campaign. Sanders chose Jeff Weaver to be his campaign manager and Phil Fiermonte to be the campaign field director.

They join the campaign's senior ranks along with Tad Devine, a Sanders friend and adviser who played leading roles in six Democratic presidential campaigns. Weaver and Fiermonte were born and raised in Vermont and have been part of Bernie's congressional and campaign teams for decades.

Weaver, raised in the St. Albans area, first met Bernie as a 20-year-old volunteer in Sanders' 1986 campaign for governor. He later worked on Sanders' campaigns for the U.S. House and on his 2006 campaign for the U.S. Senate. Weaver was a legislative assistant in Sanders' congressional office and worked his way up to chief of staff in the Senate office. He is a graduate of Georgetown Law School, which he attended while working for Sanders.

Fiermonte has worked on a number of Sanders' campaigns and was, until recently, the state director in the Vermont Senate office. A native of Derby, the University of Vermont alum and former Burlington City Council member also was executive director of the American Federation of Teachers in Vermont. He has worked for Sanders for 16 years.

Devine's ties to Sanders date back to a 1996 House race and Sanders' first campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2006.

"We are assembling a talented staff with years of experience in grassroots movements and building the coalitions that will be critical to our success. As an elected official in Vermont I have held hundreds of town meetings and have knocked on thousands of doors. That's the kind of people-oriented campaign I enjoy and that's the kind of campaign I will be running for president. And that's what Jeff and Phil know how to do very well," Sanders said.

"Tad Devine is a friend who brings a great deal of national experience to our campaign. I not only have great respect for his media expertise, but for the knowledge of contemporary American politics that he and his team will bring to our campaign," Sanders added.