LITTLE ROCK — The politico who helped Scott Ellington win the 1st District Democratic primary and runoff has left the campaign, saying Tuesday that her recent exit “made sense.”
Mariah Hatta, 41, departed earlier this month shortly after a new campaign manager, Mark Warren, a veteran Democratic strategist, came on board.
Hatta said she is now focusing her energy on state-level races and other consulting work.
Hatta and Warren said the change won’t effect the momentum of Ellington’s race against Republican incumbent Rick Crawford in the sprawling east Arkansas district that stretches into the Ozarks.
“I don’t think voters care about it. I don’t think it’s a negative at all,” said Warren, 41, who previously managed two congressional campaign wins for Democrats in Oregon and New Jersey, his home state.
A congressional campaign switching managers three months before a general election isn’t common and is “certainly not a positive,” said Jay Barth, a Hendrix College political scientist and 2012 delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.
“It was always clear that the national party had to invest significantly to make this a truly competitive race. And the clock is ticking on whether that’s going to happen,” Barth said.
Warren worked on swing districts for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in the 2010 election cycle before forming his own consulting group, Next Level Partners in Washington, D.C.
The change hadn’t been announced publicly, but Ellington told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Monday that Hatta deserves credit for helping him win as an underdog in the May primary and June runoff against heavily-endorsed and better-funded state Rep. Clark Hall of Marvell.
He said he didn’t think Hatta’s departure would be taken as a sign of disarray by potential donors or voters.
“That’s inside baseball,” Ellington said. “I think we’re in good shape. Plan our work, work our plan.”
Crawford’s campaign has no comment on the move, said Brad Ferguson, Crawford’s spokesman.
In the most recent campaign filings in July, Crawford held a commanding cash lead over Ellington: $616,955.87 to $31,104.92.
Ellington and state Democratic officials say they can close the financial gap. Ellington said Monday that his goal is to raise at least $600,000.
Stephanie Formas of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said the national party remains optimistic about recapturing the 1st District, which had been in Democratic hands since Reconstruction before Crawford’s win in 2010. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has released an online ad, put up a billboard and made calls in support of Ellington, she said.
Hatta said her departure won’t hurt Ellington’s chances, adding that she was proud to have helped him defy the political odds against Hall.
“Really shocking people was awesome,” she said.
Arkansas, Pages 14 on 08/16/2012