Elizabeth Warren taps Planned Parenthood official to lead Florida campaign

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has hired Planned Parenthood’s head of public policy in Florida to lead her presidential campaign in the state.

Warren, a Democrat whose polling numbers are rising in Florida and across the country, has hired Kimberly Diaz Scott as her campaign’s Florida state director. Diaz announced her jump to the Warren campaign on Facebook late Tuesday, saying that she was leaving the Florida Planned Parenthood Alliance after five years with the organization.

“I won’t be far from the movement, as I’m humbled and proud to announce my transition as the Florida State Director for Warren for President, assuring that we will continue to fight like hell to elect a brilliant leader who will work to protect the health, safety and future of ALL people,” Diaz wrote. “2020 is not for the rich or selfish, 2020 is for us.”

Diaz, 29, did not respond to a voice mail or text messages. Warren’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Diaz was the Central Florida regional director for Charlie Crist’s 2014 gubernatorial campaign when he ran as a Democrat against Rick Scott. Her role with the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates — the political organization representing the state’s two Planned Parenthood affiliates — required that she register as a lobbyist.

People familiar with the Warren campaign’s efforts say multiple strategists were vetted in recent weeks.

Warren’s hiring of a state director — believed to be the first such hiring in Florida by a Democratic 2020 presidential campaign — is the latest sign that campaigns are building up a presence in the state ahead of its March 17 primary election. Former Vice President Joe Biden, the front-runner in the Democratic primary, visited Miami Sunday to meet voters and raise money, and his wife, Jill Biden, is expected at an event in Tampa this weekend. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar was in Miami Saturday.

A Florida Atlantic University poll released Wednesday reported that support for Warren is growing in Florida, trailing Biden 34% to 24%. Biden’s lead is just outside the poll’s margin for error.