Women of Color Ditch Warren’s Nevada Campaign With Complaints of ‘Toxic’ Work Culture
‘A PROBLEM’
Six women of color have left Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) Nevada campaign in the months leading up to the state’s Feb. 22 caucus, including three staffers who said they felt marginalized by the campaign. Former field organizer Megan Lewis told Politico that she filed a complaint to HR after realizing there was “something wrong with the culture,” but left after feeling like she needed to become “smaller or change” in order to fit in. Another unnamed staffer said she departed the 70-person operation because she “felt like a problem.” “I was there to literally bring color into the space but not the knowledge and voice that comes with it,” she said. The women also reportedly said it was a struggle to set up campaign events in Spanish, which they claim hurt the campaign’s outreach to Latino communities in the state.
The Warren campaign did not challenge the claims of the women, but said they strove for an “inclusive environment” and were working to improve. “We have an organization of more than a thousand people, and whenever we hear concerns, we take them seriously,” a spokesperson said in a statement.