Julie Chávez Rodriguez Set to Be Biden's Campaign Manager - if and When He Actually Announces

Julie Chavez Rodriguez (Credit: SSA/Wiki Commons)

Despite the fact that his imminent re-election campaign announcement seems to have set teeth on edge among even his fellow Democrats, President Joe Biden has reportedly settled on a campaign manager for 2024. While Jen O’Malley Dillon served in that role for his 2020 campaign, she is currently serving as White House Deputy Chief of Staff. Instead, Biden is set to tap Julie Chávez Rodriguez to manage his 2024 bid.

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President Biden is set to name Julie Chavez Rodriguez, a senior West Wing official and longtime Democratic Party activist, to manage his reelection campaign, three people familiar with the ongoing deliberations tell CBS News.

Chavez Rodriguez currently serves as a senior adviser and assistant to the president — among the highest staff positions in the West Wing — and director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, which makes her responsible for outreach to mayors, county executives and governors, especially regarding implementation of the Biden administration’s agenda and in response to natural or other large-scale disasters.

Chávez Rodriguez, a Californian, is the granddaughter of American labor leader César Chávez. Her parents were full-time volunteers for the United Farm Workers of America. She obtained a Bachelor of Science in Latin-American Studies from the University of California, Berkeley. After volunteering for the Obama campaign, Chávez Rodriguez served in the Obama administration, first in the Department of the Interior and later in the White House Office of Public Engagement.

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She worked with Kamala Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign before being hired by Biden to serve as senior adviser for Latino outreach for his campaign. If she assumes the rumored role, Chávez Rodriguez will be looking to replicate the success of O’Malley Dillon, who was the first female to successfully run a Democratic presidential campaign. (Kellyanne Conway was the first overall with her role as Donald Trump’s campaign manager.)

Of course, Biden will need to actually announce his candidacy before naming Chávez Rodriguez to the role — and though the announcement is rumored to be coming on Tuesday, even that isn’t entirely certain.

Those familiar with the ongoing deliberations about the reelection campaign said Sunday that several key staffing and operational decisions remain to be made and that while the campaign is expected to launch with a video message on Tuesday, the date could slide if these key appointments are not yet made.

True to form, even Biden’s anticipated announcement has turned into a bit of a mess.

If the president announces his re-election campaign on Tuesday as expected, it will surprise many DNC officials and other party activists who had begun to anticipate an announcement over the summer. These leaders and activists had been led to believe the president was in no rush because of the ongoing squabbling among GOP presidential contenders and the lack of a serious Democratic primary challenger.

Instead, there has been a mad rush to prepare for a Tuesday launch. The campaign launch video was still being edited as of late last week, according to one person familiar with the planning.

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If the announcement proceeds and Chávez Rodriguez assumes the role, she’ll certainly have her work cut out for her.

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