Bevan Dufty Gets Campaign Manager No. 3

Word on the street is Dufty's a having whale of a good time

​Last week, we told you about Bevan Dufty's latest campaign shakeup when his manager, David Feighan, split. Dufty told SF Weekly at the time that he had plans to bring on a new leader with more political prowess, although he wouldn't say who -- until today.

Dufty told us that he hired Dan Kelly, the seasoned national Democratic organizer who is currently working on Janice Hahn's campaign for Congress. Dufty said he was most impressed with Kelly's ability to get a Democrat elected governor of Connecticut after 26 years of Republicans ruling the state.

But alas, it cannot be ignored that Dufty's campaign has been an expensive roller coaster ride.

"People joke in the Bay Area that I'm No. 3," Kelly told us, referring to Dufty's campaign managers. "Obviously, he's been making transitions." 

Dufty's first campaign manager was Bob Michitarian, who helped the former supervisors "set up shop." Things were going well for Dufty when he declared his intention to run for mayor over two years ago; he was so confident of his popularity (and dance moves) that he even decided to cap his contributions at $250 per person.

That didn't go over well for Dufty, whose campaign was spending money faster than a gambling man in Vegas. Being known for his attention to detail, Dufty realized he was screwed. So he brought in a high-powered consultant in February who gave him the wise advice: dump the contribution caps and start shaking people down for more money.

That seemed to be working well enough for Dufty, who was getting cash and support from powerful LGBT groups all the way from D.C. He then hired Feighan who helped Dufty bang on doors and make phone calls to potential supporters for three months before they "parted ways."

"My needs were different," Dufty told us at the time. "He is not working with me, but he has endorsed me and contributed to me."

So that's one vote out of the more than $150,000 he's spent.

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