Marianne Williamson loses top two campaign officials in days

“The campaign is just moving in a different direction,” a Williamson campaign staffer, who declined to be named to discuss the campaign’s dynamics, told POLITICO. The staffer explained that Daou “comes from a background of what you would call traditional Democratic politics, and Marianne is looking for something a little more innovative.”

Daou has worked for several presidential campaigns, starting as a communications adviser to John Kerry in 2004, then serving as the head of Hillary Clinton’s online operation in 2008, and serving as a dedicated Clinton advocate in 2016. Daou has then moved into Bernie Sanders’ camp in the 2020 primary before “QUIT” the Democratic Party that year, which he also announced on Twitter.

When Daou joined the Williamson campaign, he said his campaign was the “BEST opportunity” to fight against a corrupt political systema theme Williamson often speaks about during the election campaign.

Since his resignation, he has published tweets that suggest he is interested in supporting a third-party presidential campaign. Despite those tweets, Williamson’s campaign staffer said Daou would continue to work with her as an adviser.

Daou declined an interview request for this story, as did Call, who is also running as the Green Party candidate for Washington’s 3rd congressional district. Call announced on Twitter that the Green Party had raised funds for the filing fee the day after his resignation, but it is not yet officially declared with the FEC.

In a joint statement from Daou and the Williamson campaign, Daou cites “urgent family obligations” for his departure from the campaign. The statement makes no reference to its endorsement by any third party. It also refers to him as Deputy Campaign Manager, then later Acting Campaign Manager. Daou referred to himself as a campaign manager in his tweets.

Roza Calderon will take over as Williamson’s campaign manager, according to the staffer, who added that Daou helped appoint her replacement. Calderon is a former surrogate in the Sanders 2020 presidential campaign. She was most recently executive director of Future Generations, a grassroots organizing group with an affiliated PAC that supports progressive candidates.