User:BayStateBoss/sandbox

= Michael Ceraso = Michael Ceraso is an American political consultant and campaign manager affiliated with the Democratic Party. He was the State Director on Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign in California and Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign in New Hampshire. He is a former candidate for City Council in Claremont, California.

He currently works as the leader of Winning Margins, a Washington D.C.-based political consulting firm, and the nonprofit Higher Ground.

Education and early life
Ceraso grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles, where his family struggled with poverty. He earned a two-year degree from Citrus College and studied Political Science and Government at Pitzer College.

Career
Ceraso worked for Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns. He has also worked on numerous state and local races.

He joined Bernie Sanders’ 2016 campaign as deputy state director in New Hampshire. After Sanders’ decisive victory in the first-in-the-nation primary, Ceraso became the state director for Sanders’ operation in California. A Los Angeles Daily News profile described Ceraso as a "rangy, goateed 34-year-old who, seven months ago, was working as a deputy program director for Airbnb." In May 2016, less than a month before Primary Day, Ceraso was replaced by veteran political operative Robert Becker. Ceraso told the New York Times that his ouster was over a question of campaign strategy. Politico elaborated that the "surprise move came after a period when Ceraso advocated for a California strategy that involved more investment on field and digital organizing than on television advertising — a staple of Sanders’ campaign elsewhere."

In 2019, Ceraso returned to New Hampshire as State Director for Mayor Pete Buttigieg. In August, the campaign announced that they were “parting ways” with Ceraso and thanked him for his service.

Ceraso has made two unsuccessful runs for Claremont City Council, in 2018 and 2020. In 2018 Ceraso earned 9.04% of the vote in a six-way race for three At-Large seats. In 2020, he ran for a district seat and earned 31.82% of the vote, a second-place finish in a four-way race that went to Silviano “Sal” Medina with 43.62%.

In 2017 Ceraso founded Winning Margins, a five-member political consulting firm that offers communications, strategy, and digital services in media. Notable clients include former New York Assemblyman and DNC Vice Chair Michael Blake, SBA administrator Ashley Bell, and New Mexico State Representative Linda Serrato. He also leads Higher Ground, a nonprofit dedicated to helping community college students get involved in politics.