Biden campaign staffs up with former White House aide Cedric Richmond and fundraising leaders

WASHINGTON (AP) — After having just four official staffers on the payroll last quarter, President Joe Biden's 2024 reelection campaign on Monday announced that former White House aide and congressman Cedric Richmond is joining as co-chair and that two veteran Democratic fundraisers are signing on to lead outreach to donors.

Richmond, who served as a senior adviser to Biden in the White House and director of the office of public engagement, has been a key political confidant to the president and is set to reprise that role on his campaign. Biden's team also announced that Rufus Gifford and Chris Korge will serve as finance chairs of Biden's campaign and victory fund, respectively.

Gifford has been chief of protocol at the Department of State and served as ambassador to Denmark in the Obama administration. He had previously served as finance director for Obama's 2012 reelection campaign and for the Democratic National Committee. Korge is the finance chairman for the DNC and held a similar role for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential effort.

“Bringing in these trusted and known leaders that have a strong and proven record of helping win presidential campaigns sends a clear signal to the American people that we continue to build out a powerhouse campaign leadership team that knows what it will take to win in November 2024," said Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez in a statement.

Biden's campaign has remained deliberately small in the early days, with only a small team of aides working from the DNC's offices in Washington in anticipation of a larger expansion in coming months. The campaign reported on Saturday that it raised nearly $20 million since Biden declared his candidacy in April — with the total rising to over $72 million when other contributions to the DNC and other democratic entities are factored in.