Biden for President
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 10, 2020

Biden for President Announces New Arizona Staff Hires 

Biden for President announced today its latest staff hires in Arizona, building on its momentum in the state. The news of additional hires comes on the heels of last week’s announcement that Biden for President will invest $280 million in digital and television ads in 15 key states, including Arizona.
 
Cymone Bolding, Coalitions Director
Cymone is the Co-Executive Director of Arizona Coalition for Change and Our Voice Our Vote Arizona. After spending years working outside government, she served as Chief of Staff to a Phoenix City Councilmember. She serves on boards for Local First Arizona and SOUNDS Academy.
 
Teresa Acuña, Deputy Coalitions Director
Teresa most recently served as the Associate Director of the Democratic Governance Program at Harvard University’s Ash Center. Previously, she was the Director of Policy and Leadership Programs at the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda. She served as Legislative Director for Rep. Gloria Negrete McLeod.
 
Larry Sándigo, Latino Vote Director
Larry joins the Biden for President campaign from the office of Rep. Greg Stanton where he serves as Director of Outreach, Policy Advisor and Counsel. Previously, he was a managing attorney at the Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project, where he represented children seeking asylum and safety in the United States.
 
Michael Ramirez, Digital Organizing Director
Michael most recently worked on the Bernie Sanders 2020 Presidential campaign in Arizona as Field Director, and before that as the Deputy Field Director during the Nevada Caucuses. During the 2018 midterms, Michael served as Campaign Manager for Colorado State Senator Julie Gonzales. During the 2016 Presidential cycle, he was a National Latino Outreach Strategist for the Sanders 2016 team.
 
Nicole Pasteur, Press Secretary
Nicole joins the Biden for President campaign from the office of Rep. Greg Stanton, where she serves as Communications Director and Policy Advisor. She previously served as a Senior Policy Advisor to then-Mayor Greg Stanton and Mayor Thelda Williams.
 
Fernando Quiroz, Deputy Political Director
Fernando “Fernie” Quiroz is the Chairman of Arizona Interagency Farmworkers Coalition, a non-profit organization dedicated in providing services to immigrants. He spent much of his career in community service organizations and organizing citizenship forums and classes for farm working families. He has been recognized as one of the "Most Influential Hispanic Award Honorees" for Leadership and Community Involvement.

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Biden for President
Today, Biden for President announced additional staff hires in Arizona, joining State Director Jessica Mejía and Senior Advisor Andrew Piatt.
 
Tony Cani, Deputy State Director
Tony previously managed the “No on 105 & 106” campaign as well as Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego’s campaign in 2019. He previously worked as the Political Director of the ACLU of Arizona and a Senior Policy Advisor to former Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton.
 
Jacob Smith, Deputy State Director
Most recently, Jacob worked on the presidential primary campaigns of Kirsten Gillibrand and Elizabeth Warren, focused on maximizing state programs. In 2018 he ran the Arizona Democrats’ turnout operation to elect Kyrsten Sinema. He is an alum of both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns.
 
Cynthia Aragon, Political Director
Cynthia Aragon joins the Biden for President campaign as Arizona political director. Cynthia has served the Arizona House of Representatives Democratic Caucus for almost 12 years including the last four as Chief of Staff. She is a former community organizer who has worked on many high-profile issues and campaigns in Arizona.
 
Geoff Burgan, Communications Director
Geoff recently served as National Communications Director for Organizing Together 2020 and prior to that he served as Iowa Communications Director for Beto O’Rourke’s presidential campaign. In 2018, he served as Communications Director for Florida’s Andrew Gillum. He previously worked as Press Secretary to Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz and in Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley’s office.

Emma Brown, Coordinated Director
Emma moved over to the Coordinated Campaign from Mark Kelly's U.S. Senate race, where she was Deputy Campaign Manager. She has experience at the state, federal and presidential level, previously managing an Illinois congressional race and a Virginia State House. Brown also worked on the 2016 Clinton campaign in Ohio.