Josh Schwerin recently returned to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee as national press secretary, after a serving as a spokesman on now-Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s successful Virginia campaign.

The Empire State native cut his teeth working for now-Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand’s 2008 House campaign. He later served as former Rep. Scott Murphy’s communications director and worked at the DCCC as a northeast regional press secretary in 2012.

In his new role, he replaces former DCCC national press secretary, Emily Bittner, who was promoted to communications director. Jesse Ferguson, the previous communications chief, will now focus on his role as deputy executive director.

Senate Spokeswoman Heads to West Virginia

Jennifer Donohue, a former spokeswoman for Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., recently signed on with West Virginia Secretary of State Natalie Tennant’s campaign for Senate. Donohue will be the Democrat’s communications director.

FP1 Hires Wisecup, Fox News Editor

FP1 Strategies announced last week that two new hires, Trent Wisecup and Molly Matthews, joined the GOP consulting firm.

“Trent and Molly are talented professionals with diverse experiences,” FP1 Strategies partner Rob Jesmer said in a release. “They will add tremendous value to our strategic and advertising services.”

Wisecup’s résumé includes two decades as a House, Senate and gubernatorial campaign GOP strategist. Matthews comes to the firm from Fox News, where she was an assignment editor.

Democratic Polling Firm Expands

A top Democratic polling firm, Anzalone Liszt Grove Research, announced last week that Matt Hogan, Zac McCrary, Molly Murphy, and Brian Stryker have joined the firm as partners.

“With the addition of these talented pollsters as partners we really believe we have the best polling team in our industry,” partner John Anzalone said in a release.

“Matt, Zac, Molly and Brian are experienced pollsters that are battle tested in some of the most difficult political environments and have proven themselves at every level,” Anzalone added.

Atlas Project Names New Executive Director

The Atlas Project, a not-for-profit clearinghouse of election data for progressive campaigns, last week named Molly Chapman Norton as its new executive director.

“Molly’s leadership will help the Atlas team provide progressive campaigns with the historical and real-time candidate, media and election data they need to succeed,” Atlas Project President Steve Rosenthal said in a news release.

RNC Hires New York Political Operative

GOP operative Oliver Tan recently began work as the New York State director of Asian Pacific American strategic initiatives, according to a joint announcement from the Republican National Committee and the Republican Party of New York.

“The RNC continues to build an on-the-ground presence to help our candidates up and down the ballot reach diverse communities in New York,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. “We are building our ground game to fight for every vote not only in the Empire State, but across the country.”

New Jersey Democrat Joins PR Firm

New Jersey Democratic political operative Alicia D’Alessandro recently joined Beckerman Public Relations as a senior account supervisor. She will be a part of the firm’s public affairs practice and will advise clients on government and media relations.

A former New Jersey Democratic State Committee spokeswoman, D’Alessandro was most recently the chairwoman of NJ Workers’ Voices, a super PAC.

Florida GOP Names Communications and Political Director

The Republican Party of Florida upped press aide Susan Hepworth to communications director and named George Riley as political director late last week. Hepworth joined the committee in June.

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