Hanger Hires Political Director

John-Hanger-portrait
John Hanger

John Hanger’s campaign for Governor announced today that they have hired Roger J. Cohen as their new Political Director. His roles will involve reaching out to party officials and constituencies as well as coordinating with the communications team.

“In addition to his political savvy, Roger brings to our team an intense commitment to the core principles of our campaign: policy first, politics second, and real solutions to the issues that make a difference in the lives of Pennsylvanians,” Hanger said.

Cohen, who currently lives in Lancaster, is a former journalist for the NJ-based newspaper The Bergen Record. In fact, he wrote a flattering piece on Hanger earlier this year for his consulting firm AutoKthonous Strategies.

This latest hire spotlights a trend of Hanger looking outside the box when it comes to hiring political operatives. His communications manager Jan Jarrett, for example, was his successor at PennFuture, an environmental group.

This is not to say that Cohen has little experience, however, on the contrary he has served in various political offices for several decades. In the 1980’s he was the district director and head of statewide political affairs for Rep. Rob Torricelli of New Jersey. He then became a senior communications and policy counselor for the Executive Director’s Office at the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.

More recently, he has served as co-field manager in the Clearfield County, PA office of the 2008 Barack Obama campaign and press secretary for the County Executive of Essex County, NJ.

John Hanger served in Ed Rendell’s campaign from 2008 to 2011 as Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection. Other Democratic gubernatorial candidates include, fellow DEP Secretary Katie McGinty, Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz, and Secretary of the Department of Revenue Tom Wolf. State Treasurer Rob McCord is also widely believed to be seeking the nomination although he has yet to officially announce.

6 Responses

  1. The answer is YES, to the questions raised a few months earlier, “As for Hanger, the questions are:
    1) can he raise money and get his name/message out there
    2) can he win decisively in a debate”

    Now that we’ve seen the candidates speak at the forum in November, John Hanger can clearly win any debate, and he appears to welcome the challenge! No other candidate displayed the confidence and in-depth knowledge and experience that Hanger did. This man is a true leader with the citizens of Pennsylvania in mind. He didn’t flinch in his convictions, and the crowd roared in approval!

    John Hanger’s supporters are rallying, spreading word-of-mouth messages of the People’s Campaign, led by John Hanger.

    Check out his stance on the issues here: http://www.hangerforgovernor.com/?recruiter_id=1350

  2. Robert-
    As far as I can tell, team Schwartz has only staffer worth a damn (and she’s in charge of fundraising… not strategy, media, message, or any of the activities that will p*ss away the money raised).

    No shock that the Schwartz event was scripted. The staff probably wrote the questions as well. Unless Q/A is handled by independent people, you can be sure the staff filters out anyone with a hard question and their shills are the only one asking questions.

    Jeremy-
    McCord hasn’t really started his campaigning, because no one is paying attention this early. It’s still before Labor Day (and not even in the same year as the election).

    As for Hanger, the questions are:
    1) can he raise money and get his name/message out there
    2) can he win decisively in a debate

  3. I was recently at a house party for Schwartz and from what I’ve seen, I’m not impressed. She toed the issues and didn’t really have any concrete or solid ideas to solve the problems PA faces. It was also quite choreographed with pre-determined questions, etc. which personally drives me nuts.
    Hanger on the other hand has really solid ideas to fix the problems, though I will respectfully admit he lacks the flash and polish typical politicians do which makes him more, get this… human and down to earth!

  4. From everyone I have heard from, Hangar has the best policies. The problem is neither Schwartz nor McCord has come to my area yet.

  5. The priorities are: policy first, politics second and even slightly flattering photos dead last.

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