Pete for America
For Immediate Release: November 21, 2019
Contact: Olivia Bercow

Pete for America Volunteer Leaders From Across Southern Nevada To Attend Training Summit in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS, NV - Today, Pete For America announced that it will hold a “Nevadans for Pete” Summit in Las Vegas this weekend to empower Southern Nevada volunteers and provide them with the resources and tools to organize their own communities to win the era.

The Nevadans for Pete Summit builds on the grassroots energy that has been generating across Nevada. The two-day summit will help expand PFA’s organizing capacity by equipping supporters with the tools to mobilize their community around Pete’s commitment to unify our country to tackle the challenges Washington has ignored. Volunteers will learn key skills to help them organize their friends and neighbors in support of Pete. 

“Battle born Democrats are excited about Mayor Buttigieg’s new approach to politics, and our supporters are eager to get out into the community and talk to their neighbors about Pete’s bold solutions,” said Paul Selberg, the Pete for America Nevada State Director. “This weekend, we will continue to build the infrastructure needed to capture the growing energy and enthusiasm for Pete, and translate it into a win on February 22nd.”

Over the course of the training summit, volunteer leaders will develop organizing skills to recruit additional volunteers, run canvasses and phone banks, and continue to build local precinct leadership. Pete for America’s National Caucus Director Travis Brock will prepare attendees so they can deliver similar caucus trainings for Pete supporters in their communities across Nevada. The campaign will also hold a volunteer summit in Northern Nevada in December. 

The training comes a week after Pete’s visit to Las Vegas for the First in the West event, where he spoke to Nevada Democrats and delivered a message of unity in the face of division.

###

Pete for America
To: Interested Parties
From: Paul Selberg, Nevada State Director, Pete for America
Date: November 13, 2019

Memo: With 100 Days to Go, Pete Buttigieg’s Nevada Momentum Continues to Grow

Introduction
On his first trip to Nevada in April, Mayor Buttigieg spoke to dozens of supporters crammed into MadHouse Coffee in West Las Vegas. A lot has changed since then, and support for Pete in the Battle Born State has continued to grow, and he is well-positioned to win the caucus next year. 

Voting third in the nominating contest, Nevada offers a look into our nation’s future. Not only does Nevada reflect our country demographically, it also exemplifies the technological, social, and political progress that all states should strive for. On issues from labor rights to renewable energy, the Battle Born State has come a long way in the last few years, but there’s more that can be done to improve the lives of Nevadans — and Pete is offering a new approach with bold solutions to the issues we face, while uniting people from all walks of life. 

From an event at First Friday in downtown Las Vegas in 115 degree heat, to a rally in Northern Nevada where unexpected snow took out the power, Pete has been drawing crowds all over the state. A few weeks ago, 700 people showed up to the East Las Vegas Community Center to see Pete — to date, the largest crowd for a presidential campaign at the popular event site. It’s clear: when Nevadans hear Pete speak, they like him and support him, and our growing team has spent months converting curious voters into dedicated volunteers to win the caucus on February 22nd. 

As Pete’s crowds have grown, so has Team Pete in Nevada. With 100 days until the First in the West caucus, Pete has the most campaign offices of any candidate (10), one of the largest organizing teams in the state (more than 55 people by Thanksgiving), and a growing army of volunteers who are helping the campaign reach voters from Las Vegas to Elko and from Reno to Pahrump. 

Tomorrow marks 100 days until the Nevada caucus. Here are the highlights of Pete’s growing momentum in the state: 

Pete For America is One of the Largest Campaigns in the Battle Born State

  • Since August, Team Pete has nearly doubled its staff to 46, and will be over 55 staff by Thanksgiving. In the last couple of weeks, we have added 15 new organizers to our team.
  • Pete for America is the only campaign with offices in rural Pahrump and Fallon, and will add another office in the Sunrise Manor neighborhood of Las Vegas to bring our total to 11 offices across the state.
  • This weekend, in the lead up to the First in the West event, Team Pete will hold a Weekend of Action and knock over 10,000 doors of Nevada caucus-goers to discuss how they can become part of our growing movement. Since June, more than 2,600 Nevadans have joined Team Pete.
  • Pete was the first candidate to file for the Nevada caucus after addressing the state party’s Keep Nevada Blue Dinner in September.
  • Since launching his exploratory committee, Pete has taken 6 trips to Nevada — three of them in the span of a month — and this Sunday, he will return to Las Vegas for his seventh trip to the state.
  • In September, on his first trip to Northern Nevada, over 800 people waited in the rain and snow to see Pete at a rally in Sparks. When the power went, rally-goers lit the stage with their phones to hear Pete finish his remarks. The moment inspired “Light the Way,” the first digital ad to run in Nevada. A few weeks later, 700 people showed up on a Tuesday afternoon to hear Pete speak at the East Las Vegas Community Center — to date, it was the largest presidential campaign rally at the popular site for political events.
  • Our organizing program is based on a relational model: meeting voters where they are, empowering volunteers to organize their own personal networks, and building a grassroots organization in support of Pete. We are actively engaging and living in the communities we’re organizing and finding new places to talk about Pete:
        • We’ve met volunteers at Bunco games in Pahrump, the Wine Walks in Elko, a boardgame cafe in Las Vegas, and concerts in Reno. 
    • One of our organizers competed in a push up competition in Northern Nevada to raise awareness for veterans’ suicide.
    • One of our organizers became a citizen while on the campaign and received a congratulatory call from Pete.
Pete for America
For Immediate Release: September 26th
Contact: Olivia Bercow

Pete for America Announces Senior Nevada Staff, Plans to Open 10 Offices In 1 Month

LAS VEGAS, N.V. — Ahead of Mayor Buttigieg’s visit to the Silver State, Pete for America announced major staff hires in Nevada to bolster statewide political, communications, and organizing efforts. Pete for America has hired Travis Brock as National Caucus Director and Juan Carlos Perez as National Latinx Engagement Director, both of whom will be based in Las Vegas. The Nevada team, led by Paul Selberg as State Director, has also brought on Martin Fitzgerald as Nevada Senior Advisor, Katie Davis as Deputy Political Director, and Olivia Bercow as Communications Director. The organizing team — now at 27 and growing — has added Deputy Directors Carter Black and Ruben Lebron to join Organizing Director Mo Shatara.

“From the gun violence epidemic to the climate crisis, we've seen firsthand in Nevada what the political stalemate in Washington has left behind," said Paul Selberg, Nevada State Director. "As a mayor and a veteran, Pete understands the urgency of the moment we are in, and offers bold solutions to the issues that have plagued our state. With our strong and talented team, we will continue to spread Pete's vision from Las Vegas to Elko to win the era and build a better future for our country."

Pete for America has opened three offices in East Las Vegas, Elko and Henderson and has 35 staff on the ground. By mid-October, the team will have 10 offices open across the Battle Born State — including in Reno, Carson City, Fallon and Pahrump. This ramp up comes as Mayor Buttigieg returns to Nevada on September 28th for a series of events in Reno. 

Travis Brock, National Caucus Director: Brock is a veteran advisor to state and national campaigns. Brock has made his permanent home in Nevada for the twelve years, serving four of those years as Executive Director of the Nevada State Democratic Party, overseeing the party’s operations for the historic 2008 first-in-the-west presidential caucuses, President Obama’s 2008 victory, and Senator Harry Reid’s re-election in 2010. He has also served as National Field Director for Tom Vilsack for President, Political Director and Coordinated Campaign Director at the Iowa Democratic Party, regional political director at the Democratic National Committee, and on the presidential campaigns of Al Gore and John Kerry. 

Juan Carlos Perez,  National Latinx Engagement Director: As a first generation, Mexican-American, Perez understands the challenges the Latinx community confronts and has strived to advocate for improved policy regulations for the community. Most recently, Perez served as the Director of Advocacy and Membership for GreenLatinos, a non-profit organization committed to addressing environmental and conservation issues that significantly impact the health and welfare of the Latinx community. Prior to GreenLatinos, Perez served as the Policy and Legislation Manager with the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) – the nation’s largest and oldest Hispanic civil rights organization. 

Paul Selberg, Nevada State Director. Selberg got his start in politics as an intern at the Iowa State Capitol. Since then, Paul has worked across the nation including his home state of Iowa, Alaska, Vermont, Houston, and finally Nevada, where he served as Field Director for the Nevada Senate Caucus during the 2014 election cycle. Since 2014, Selberg has worked in Nevada where he most recently served as the Executive Director of the Nevada Assembly Democratic Caucus, helping grow the Assembly Democratic Caucus from a 17 seat minority to a 29 seat supermajority within two election cycles.

Martin Fitzgerald, Senior Advisor. Fitzgerald most recently served as Nevada State Director for the voting rights group Let America Vote. Working in conjunction with the Nevada Assembly and Senate Democratic Caucuses, Let America Vote helped secure the first female majority state legislature in the nation’s history and a Democratic super-majority in the Assembly. Previously, Fitzgerald served as Chief of Staff for Nevada Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, Communications Director at For Our Future Nevada, Deputy Research Director for U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto and Research Director for the Nevada State Democratic Party.

Olivia Bercow, Communications Director. Bercow most recently served as Communications Director of NextGen America, a SuperPAC dedicated to mobilizing young people to vote for progressive candidates up and down the ballot. In 2018, she led the group’s communications program across 11 battleground states, including Nevada, where youth turnout reached record-high levels. Prior to her two years at NextGen, Bercow was the Press Secretary on Jim Johnson's Democratic primary campaign for New Jersey Governor. Bercow also worked on Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in Florida and for the Iowa Democratic Party in 2014. 

Katie Davis, Deputy Political Director. Davis worked as a Regional Field Director with Revolution Field Strategies on a large scale voter registration project, and in Clark County during the 2016 general election. From 2017 to the 2018 midterms, Davis was a Senior Project Manager for Revolution Strategies on congressional and senatorial seats, ballot initiatives, and voter registration projects in Montana, Florida, and Indiana. She was also an organizer in Virginia in 2017 for the John Bell for Delegate campaign.

Mo Shatara, Organizing Director. Prior to joining Pete for America, Shatara has worked in Democratic organizing since 2011. Most recently, Shatara worked in Illinois on the JB for Governor race, and in Virginia on 2017 coordinated campaign working with the VA House of Delegates. 

Rubén Lebrón, Deputy Organizing Director. Lebrón is a voting rights expert dedicated to fighting for a more representative democracy - a passion ignited by being born in Puerto Rico. He is a proud alum of Wichita State and George Washington's Graduate School of Political Management and previously worked as the Mid-Atlantic Outreach Coordinator for FairVote. 

Carter Black, Deputy Organizing Director. Black is a Virginia native who most recently served as Virginia State Director for NextGen America, a youth vote organization operating in the Commonwealth since 2017. In 2018, her team registered nearly 25,000 young Virginians, propelled youth turnout to reach a record-breaking high and helped elect three women to the Virginia Congressional delegation.