Bernie Sanders makes top Iowa, New Hampshire hires for 2020

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Sen. Bernie Sanders has hired four key Iowa staffers and three veterans in New Hampshire, building out a team of old and new staff as he makes his second Democratic bid for president.

The Iowa team, in particular, showcases the Vermont senator's emphasis on grassroots organizing and an effort to diversify his staff following allegations of sexism and sexual harassment against some of Sanders' top 2016 staffers.

Leading the team is Misty Rebik, Sanders' Iowa state director. She previously worked on LGBTQ rights and education advocacy for One Iowa, an LGBTQ advocacy organization, and served as a regional director for Planned Parenthood, where she created the organization's first transgender care program in Iowa. In 2018, Rebik worked as campaign manager for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Cathy Glasson, a union leader who embraced Sanders' progressive policy priorities in her failed bid.

Another new addition is Jess Mazour, who will serve as Sanders' political director. Mazour was most recently lead organizer on the farm and environment team at Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, a progressive advocacy group, and was a Sanders delegate in 2016. Her hire underscores the emphasis on rural issues that the senator has made a focus of his 2020 bid as he hopes to defeat President Donald Trump.

"I've spent over six years organizing grassroots rural Iowans impacted by factory farming, corporate agriculture, and other rural issues in parts of the state that went for Trump in 2016," Mazour said in a statement. "It's clear Iowans want clean water, health care, living wages for workers and fair prices for farmers."

Sanders has also brought back Evan Burger to serve as his Iowa caucus director and Pete D'Alessandro to serve as a senior adviser to his team. Both worked on Sanders' 2016 campaign,...