Veteran political consultant Hank Sheinkopf has signed on as a consultant to former Comptroller Bill Thompson’s 2013 mayoral campaign, two sources told The Insider.
Mr. Sheinkopf worked for Mr. Thompson’s successful comptroller campaigns in 2001 and 2005, but was one of an array of high-profile consultants that worked for Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s winning re-election campaign against Mr. Thompson in 2009. (That may have been less of a defection by Mr. Sheinkopf than it was a case of Mr. Thompson simply failing to secure his services earlier in the race.)
In an email this week, Mr. Sheinkopf, a well known and rather salty Democratic strategist, neither confirmed nor denied his involvement in Mr. Thompson’s campaign. Thomas Butler, a spokesman for Mr. Thompson’s campaign, declined to confirm or deny that Mr. Sheinkopf was signing on.
“As we move into early 2013, we are going to have additional announcements of hirings, but we have no announcements at this time,” Mr. Butler said.
In July, The Insider wrote that Mr. Thompson was likely to shake up his campaign following a disappointing fundraising period, with Mr. Sheinkopf’s hiring broached as one possibility.
At that time, Eduardo Castell from the MirRam Group was Thompson’s lead campaign operative. The consulting firm Bedgrove Grove serves as his principal fundraiser; the firm’s Betsy Gotbaum, the former public advocate, sits on his finance committee. Consultant Marla Klinger is helping out with fundraising, while Butler Associates handles his public relations.