Bloomberg meets lawmakers on Capitol Hill, nets two more congressional endorsements

Each Friday, we highlight a presidential candidate's key campaign staffer.

Analilia Mejia is a government and political affairs strategist with experience in union and worker advocacy and organizing primarily in the New Jersey area. Mejia received her bachelor’s degree as well as two master’s degrees—public policy and labor relations—from Rutgers University.

Previous campaign work:

2012: New Jersey Democratic State Committee, Latino vote director
2009: New Jersey Democratic State Committee, deputy Latino vote director

Other experience:

2014-2019: New Jersey Working Families Alliance, executive director
2009-2014: Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
- 2011-2014: Political director (New Jersey; multi-state northern region), SEIU Local 32BJ
- 2009-2011: Assistant director of politics and policy, SEIU
2007-2009: UNITE HERE, assistant political director (Chicago)
2003-2007: New Jersey Immigration Policy Network, director of policy and government affairs

What she says about Sanders:

“No other candidate has consistently fought for organized labor as a building block for the middle class like @BernieSanders Period. Full stop. #UnionStrong”

Notable Quote of the Day

“Voters will head to the polls to cast the first in-person ballots in the Democratic presidential primary season on Friday — but not in Iowa's famous first-in-the-nation caucuses.

Thanks to generous early-voting laws, Iowa's neighbor to the north, Minnesota, has the distinction of offering the first chance for any voter to turn out and cast a ballot in the 2020 presidential campaign. …

Minnesota's early voting is a reminder that even though most observers are counting down until Iowa, some votes will be cast before then, no matter what strategies or surprises the candidates and the political fates have in store during the next few weeks.”

– Alex Seitz-Wald, NBC News

Democrats

Michael Bennet, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren were sworn in as jurors in the impeachment trial of Donald Trump on Thursday.
Rep. Terri Sewell (Ala.) endorsed Joe Biden on Friday, marking his eleventh endorsement from a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. Biden is campaigning in Iowa on Friday and Saturday with stops in Sioux City, Council Bluffs, and Indianola.
Michael Bloomberg met with members of the Congressional Hispanic, Asian Pacific American, and Black caucuses on Thursday. He also spoke with representatives in the New Democrats and Blue Dog Coalition. Rep. Stephanie Murphy (Fla.), the co-chairman of the Blue Dog Coalition, and Rep. Harley Rouda (Calif.) endorsed Bloomberg. On Saturday, Bloomberg will campaign in Salt Lake City.
The Pete Buttigieg campaign reached an agreement with field organizers and regional organizing directors represented by IBEW Local 2321. Buttigieg will campaign in Iowa on Saturday.
John Delaney continues to campaign in Iowa with stops in Tama on Saturday and Washington on Sunday.
Tulsi Gabbard will campaign in New Hampshire on Friday and Saturday with town halls in Merrimack and Milford.
Klobuchar is attending the Iowa State Educators Association forum in West Des Moines on Saturday. She will campaign in Cedar Rapids and Des Moines on Sunday.
Deval Patrick is opening his South Carolina campaign headquarters in Columbia on Saturday.
Rep. Mark Pocan (Wis.), the chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, endorsed Sanders on Thursday. Sanders is holding a town hall and rally in New Hampshire on Saturday.
Tom Steyer is campaigning in South Carolina on Saturday with stops in Hartsville and Florence.
Andrew Yang will begin a bus tour of Iowa beginning with the Iowa City Women's March on Saturday.

Republicans

Donald Trump’s impeachment trial began on Thursday as Chief Justice John Roberts and the U.S. senators were sworn in as the presiding officer and jurors, respectively. Mike Pence held a Latinos for Trump event in Kissimmee, Florida, on Thursday.
HuffPost interviewed Joe Walsh about his campaign on Thursday. He also discussed the impeachment trial on CNN’s The Lead with Jake Tapper.
Bill Weld is campaigning in Concord, New Hampshire, on Friday and Saturday.

What We’re Reading

CNBC: Mike Bloomberg has already surpassed Trump in Google ad spending for 2020 election
NBC News: They're voting Friday in the presidential contest. Here's where.
The New York Times: Bad Timing for Jury Duty

Flashback: January 17, 2016

Hillary Clinton, Martin O’Malley, and Bernie Sanders participated in the fourth Democratic presidential debate in South Carolina.