Bernie Sanders’ campaign is downsizing its field staff, as well as some advance and other workers, an adviser told CNN Wednesday afternoon.
The decision follows a bad night for Sanders, in which he lost four out of five East Coast states that voted on Tuesday.
Sanders announced the layoffs in an interview with The New York Times.
“It will be hundreds of staff members,” Sanders told the Times. “We have had a very large staff, which was designed to deal with 50 states in this country; 40 of the states are now behind us. So we have had a great staff, great people.”
The adviser didn’t know how many workers were being laid off but said the number reported by the Times was accurate.
The adviser said this was a natural progression for the campaign considering that they already had staff in California, which votes on June 7.
The Sanders campaign operation multiplied in size after his fundraising exploded earlier this year, hiring staffers across the country. With only 14 contests remaining, the adviser said, there just wasn’t a need for all the field workers.
But it’s a blunt acknowledgment that Sanders is not preparing for the long haul and no longer needs such a robust staff. The campaign also is uncertain whether its fundraising success will continue given the trajectory of the race, and senior advisers concluded it was time to downsize back to a smaller scale.
