To oversee her U.S. Senate race, Susan Bysiewicz has found a campaign manager, Jonathan Ducote, willing to go the distance on past campaigns, including competing with a client in a triathlon as a fundraising gimmick.
Ducote, 29, arrived in Connecticut last month, about a week after helping elect Alvin Brown as the first African-American mayor of Jacksonville. With the legislative session over, Ducote dropped by the state Capitol this week.
He was the finance director for Brown, the upset Democratic winner in a Republican city. In 2010, he was campaign manager for Loranne Ausley, the losing candidate in a statewide race for chief financial officer in Florida.
Ducote turned a triathlon run by Ausley into a light-hearted fundraising challenge on Facebook. Ausley easily beat her younger campaign manager, who says his athletic experience includes more rugby and football than running, swimming and biking.
“That was a pretty good little fundraiser. I think we raised $10,000,” he said. Asked if he would go that far for Bysiewicz, he laughed and said, “If that’s what it takes, yes, I’ll do it.”