Bernie Sanders’ new political group is already facing internal chaos that has spurred the departure of key leaders, including digital director Kenneth Pennington, as it gears up to officially launch Wednesday.
The Vermont senator brought on his former presidential campaign manager Jeff Weaver this past week to run Our Revolution. The move was followed by the resignation of four staff members from a 15-person team, Politico reported Tuesday.
"Kenneth chose to leave the organization. He’d worked on the campaign from the very beginning … he decided to do something else I guess," Weaver said Monday evening, adding, "we’re very happy to be putting the A-team back together."
Remnant tensions from Sanders’ failed presidential campaign have carried over to the Our Revolution staff. Younger staff members see Weaver as a symbol of older aides who insisted during Sanders’ presidential bid that their experience and planning drove the senator’s ability to translate his message into votes.
Younger aides felt dismissed by older aides who they said did not recognize Sanders’ success was largely due to their digital and organizing skills.
The infighting came to a breaking point over concerns about campaign finance after a report from ABC News published last Friday examined the group’s structure and raised questions as to whether it would violate tax law given Sanders’ role in the Senate.
Our Revolution is registered as a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization, allowing the group to accept unlimited cash without disclosing donor names. Campaign finance law bar’s lawmakers, including Sanders, from soliciting donations above a certain dollar amount.
Weaver downplayed reports of internal turmoil.
"This is an organization that’s a couple of weeks old, and every new organization has to find its footing," he said.
Jane Sanders asked Weaver to head the group last week, leading to immediate protest from Pennington and other staff members. A source familiar with the episode told Politico that a majority of the staff who quit did so in response to Weaver’s hiring.
Claire Sandberg, who was the digital organizing director of the campaign and the organizing director of Our Revolution before she quit, said the infighting also broke out over disagreements about fundraising strategies. She said Weaver had outlined a plan that didn’t rely exclusively on grassroots fundraising, but also incorporated traditional sources.
"Jeff would like to take big money from rich people including billionaires and spend it on ads," Sandberg told Politico. "That’s the opposite of what this campaign and this movement are supposed to be about and after being very firm and raising alarm the staff felt that we had no choice but to quit."
Our Revolution’s stated goal is to combat the special interests of the "one percent" while advocating for financial transparency.
Weaver said board members asked him to lead the group because they "knew that I shared Bernie’s vision and I’d be true to it."
A staff member who left the group following Weaver’s return said he was interested in advancing his own vision.
"Over the last few days, almost the entire staff resigned from the organization because they would not work for Jeff Weaver or help to enact Jeff’s vision for the organization in any way," the former staffer said.