New Hampshire staffers leave Bachmann campaign

Posted at 11:05 AM on October 21, 2011 by Catharine Richert (3 Comments)
Filed under: Campaign 2012, Michele Bachmann

WMUR, a New Hampshire television station, reports that GOP presidential hopeful Rep. Michele Bachmann's paid staff in the state have quit "over deep frustration with the campaign's lack of commitment to New Hampshire."

Bachmann has been spending much of her time and resources in Iowa, a state she says is a must-win.

Those staffers include Jeff Chidester, Nicole Yurek, Mattheu LeDuc, Caroline Gigler, and Tom Lukacz, according to the WMUR report.

Here's the rest of the story, which is available by subscription-only through this link.

They stress that this has nothing to do with their devotion to the candidate. In fact, the staff was going to leave the campaign much earlier, but did not because they felt it wasn't the best for the candidate.

Bachmann came to the state last week for the Dartmouth debate. It was her first trip to New Hampshire since late June, and it was the final straw for the local staff. They felt constantly betrayed and even lied to, one of the staffers said.

In an interview with the New York Times this week, Bachmann said she plans to spend the rest of the primary campaign in Iowa and no other state, except for debates. The New Hampshire Secretary of State's office said it was notified that Bachmann would mail in her application to appear on the ballot and not sign up in person as most candidates do.

It is expected that these staffers will join other campaigns immediately.

MPR News has contacted the Bachmann campaign for confirmation, and will update if we hear back.

UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal and Fox News are reporting that the Bachmann campaign is pushing back on the staff departure.

Per the Journal:

"Besieged by reports of a staff mutiny, Bachmann campaign manager Keith Nahigian issued a statement late Friday saying, "We have a great team in New Hampshire [and] we have not been notified that anyone is leaving the campaign."

Comments (3)

Is MPR now the official media organ for the serial liar Michelle Bachmann? Nobody cares. Even the christian nazis don't care about her anymore. Please get her off your front page!

Posted by John Crampton | October 21, 2011 1:35 PM

Jeepers, John. You mean you didn't enjoy listening to her on MId-Day today? I consider her campaign antics to be comic relief.

Posted by Steve Haroldson | October 21, 2011 4:15 PM

We keep asking that question here, John.

Posted by Jamie | October 21, 2011 5:44 PM

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