Biden builds staff team for running mate before she is unveiled

Joe Biden’s campaign announced a team of aides who will staff his eventual running mate as he prepares to announce his selection of a vice presidential nominee.

The vice presidential candidate’s staff includes longtime Biden insiders, veterans of former President Barack Obama’s White House and more recent campaign hires. The rollout comes ahead of Biden’s announcement of who will join him on the ticket, which could come as early as midweek, people familiar with the planning said Monday.

Karine Jean-Pierre, a senior adviser on Biden’s campaign, will be the vice presidential candidate’s chief of staff, the Biden campaign said. Before joining Biden’s team earlier this year, she was chief public affairs officer for MoveOn and also worked on both Obama presidential campaigns. She was also a regional political director in the Obama White House.

Another Obama White House alumna, Sheila Nix, will be a senior adviser to the running mate and her spouse. Nix was Jill Biden’s chief of staff in the White House and Joe Biden’s 2012 campaign chief of staff. Liz Allen, a longtime Obama and Biden aide, will be communications director.

Others on the running mate’s team include political director Vince Evans, policy director Amanda Perez, scheduling and advance director Ryan Montoya, spouse scheduling and advance director Gina Lee, scheduling director Evan Glover and press assistant Amijah Townsend-Holmes.

Leading contenders for the No. 2 pick include California Senator Kamala Harris, former National Security Adviser Susan Rice, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, California Representative Karen Bass, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth.