(JustPatriots.com)- Last year, Vice President Kamala Harris saw an exodus of her staff members. Amid reports that the vice president was creating a hostile work environment, Harris lost her chief of staff and most of her communications team.
And while many of those members of staff have now been replaced, reports suggest that Harris may be preparing to take Jovanni Ortiz on board as her next chief of staff.
Journalists from The Wall Street journal, Politico, The Washington Post, and a host of other mainstream news outlets have received tips that Ortiz, who works as the community outreach and engagement manager for the Department of Public Safety at Hofstra University could be Harris’ next hire.
The Hill wrote on December 3, not long after Harris’ communication team announced that they were leaving, that Ortiz was engaging in talks with Harris about taking on chief of staff role.
Ortiz last worked in politics in 2019 when he was the communications director for a New York state assemblyman, and while he has long worked in communications for the Democratic Party and various party officials, he has never held such a huge and influential position.
The White House had not confirmed the reports, but Politico has an extensive analysis of the story, arguing that Ortiz is likely in with a good shot of taking the job.
Ortiz has a long history of supporting Kamala Harris on his Twitter account, and even supported her when she launched her failed 2020 presidential campaign.
However, he did seem to indicate in a post that he hasn’t been formally offered the position yet.
Go #Kamala!
— Jovanni Ortiz (@JovanniOrtiz) January 27, 2019
“Getting a bunch of inquiries as I’m sure you can imagine and you probably know more than I do!” he wrote.
If he does get the job, how long do you think it will be before he understands that old “never meet your heroes” adage?
He could soon learn what those former employees meant by “toxic work environment.”
