Description

Oliver Larkin’s Campaign for Congress in Florida’s 23rd Congressional district is hiring a Political Director to build the progressive coalition behind his primary challenge to Rep. Jared Moskowitz. The Political Director wins endorsements from Members of Congress, labor unions, and PACs; builds the campaign’s relationships with national and state-based progressive organizations; and recruits and deploys the surrogates who validate Oliver’s candidacy on the ground and online.

Oliver is a Fort Lauderdale native and a decade-long progressive organizer, fighting for Medicare for All, a $25 minimum wage, the Green New Deal, universal childcare, free public college, paid family and medical leave, abolishing ICE, and an end to the US funded genocide in Gaza. He rejects all corporate PAC money.

From leading a Bernie Sanders field office in 2016 to unionizing his workplace with CWA, Oliver took what he learned and put it to work in South Florida, organizing against luxury developers, fighting toxic landfill expansion, standing with LGBTQIA+ communities, and confronting groups like Moms for Liberty and the Proud Boys alongside families, educators, and students as an active member of Broward DSA.

Oliver has been endorsed by DSA, Peace Action, the Labor Community Alliance of South Florida, Progressives for Democracy in America Florida, and Progressive Victory.

The Role

The Political Director owns the campaign’s relationships with the progressive movement. This person builds and executes a comprehensive endorsement strategy across Members of Congress, labor unions, PACs, and national and state-based progressive organizations; recruits and deploys surrogates; and turns each relationship into measurable value for the campaign, whether a public endorsement, a union door-knock, or a surrogate appearance on a livestream.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute the campaign’s endorsement strategy across Members of Congress, state and local electeds, labor unions, PACs, and national and state-based progressive organizations, with quarterly endorsement targets and a weekly pipeline review
• Lead Member outreach: build a target list of progressive Members of Congress, staff the candidate for calls and meetings, secure public endorsements, co-hosted fundraisers, and surrogate appearances
• Manage PAC outreach across ideologically aligned progressive PACs and issue-based organizations, running a tracked engagement pipeline from introduction through questionnaire, interview, and endorsement
• Own labor outreach: secure endorsements from international unions and their state and local affiliates, build the campaign’s relationship with the South Florida central labor councils, and coordinate rally appearances and member-to-member programs
• Build and manage the surrogate program: recruit validators across elected officials, labor leaders, movement organizations, cultural figures, and local leaders, and deploy them for events, video content, call time, digital amplification, and field
• Build and maintain the campaign’s political CRM: log every meeting, ask, and commitment; surface weekly follow-up lists; produce monthly endorsement reports for the candidate and senior staff
• Coordinate endorsement rollouts with the Communications Director for press maximization and digital amplification
• Partner with the Finance Director on joint fundraising, PAC check requests, and co-hosted donor events tied to endorsements
• Partner with the Field Director on surrogate-driven canvasses, rallies, and volunteer kickoffs
• Prepare the candidate for endorsement interviews, questionnaires, and meetings with elected officials, union leaders, and organizational principals
• Manage political interns and volunteers

The Right Person

• Has at least one cycle on a campaign, labor union, C4, or progressive organization; experience on a political, coalitions, or endorsements team is ideal but not required
• Has existing relationships with progressive Members of Congress, labor unions, and national progressive organizations, or has demonstrated the ability to build them quickly
• Understands the progressive movement ecosystem and the dynamics of a primary challenge against an incumbent
• Is organized and detail-oriented with strong pipeline management instincts, able to track hundreds of relationships without dropping a follow-up
• Is a strong, fast writer who can turn around endorsement pitches, candidate briefings, and coalition memos on tight deadlines
• Thrives in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment and can work long hours and meet tight deadlines