Today, Sarah Schoengood, Democratic candidate for New Jersey’s 3rd Congressional District, announced key hires for her campaign. The team includes New Jersey natives Jake Briggs and Ahmed Elsayed as Campaign Manager and Senior Advisor, respectively. Campaign veteran and renowned political operative Bill Hyers will serve as Chief Strategist and Media Advisor.

“I’m thrilled to announce the addition of key advisors to our campaign team, whose dedication and expertise will propel us to victory this November,” said Schoengood. “They bring a wealth of knowledge and experience that will help us reach voters across the district and build a true grassroots coalition that is led by the people. Together, we will build a winning campaign that puts Jerseyans first.”

Staff biographies are listed below:

Jake Briggs, Campaign Manager

Jake Briggs, a New Jersey native, has worked on campaigns and consulting firms at the federal, state, and local levels. Most recently, Jake has served as a Senior Advisor to Phil Ehr’s House race in Miami-Dade, where Jake managed the team and provided strategic direction and messaging. Before that, Jake worked on Paul Vallas’ 2023 Mayoral race in Chicago. In the 2022 cycle, Jake was the Strategic Advisor on Alan Cohn’s congressional campaign in FL-15. Jake’s finance experience includes Cynthia Wallace’s North Carolina congressional race, Regional Finance Director for the North Carolina Democratic Senate Caucus, and Natalie Tennant’s Senate Campaign in West Virginia.

Jake has extensive New Jersey political experience working at Vision Media Marketing, Secaucus, NJ, advising candidates in North Jersey and around the country. He also worked on Congressman Gottheimer’s 2016 Red-to-Blue campaign as Deputy Finance Director and Researcher. Jake served with Rep. Gottheimer through his first term as Research and Grants Director and Director of Community Engagement for Sussex and Warren Counties.

Jake Briggs is a graduate of Lycoming College and a Passaic County Native.

Ahmed Elsayed, Senior Advisor

Ahmed Elsayed is a veteran campaign operative with years of experience working on campaigns nationwide. Ahmed has served as Chief of Staff and political advisor to Congressman Tony Cardenas (CA-29) for the last two cycles. Ahmed has a wealth of New Jersey political experience, recently serving as National Press Secretary for Senator Cory Booker. Prior to working for Senator Booker, Ahmed was Communications Director and Senior Advisor for Congressman Cárdenas during his tenure as BOLD PAC Chair, the campaign arm of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), for two years. During that time, the Hispanic Caucus grew to a record 39 members, winning battleground races across the country. He was also Deputy Communications Director and Traveling Chief of Staff for Congressman John Delaney’s presidential campaign. In 2016, Ahmed worked on John Gottheimer’s successful campaign to unseat seven-term Republican incumbent Scott Garrett.

Ahmed is a graduate of Rutgers University and a North Bergen native.

Bill Hyers, Chief Strategist

Bill Hyers, recognized nationally as an expert on political campaigns, is a managing and founding partner of The Win Company. For more than two decades, Bill has worked on scores of local, state and national campaigns at every level and across geographies, from Alaska to Bermuda, from Kentucky to New York.

Bill, who began consulting in 2014, has held senior roles on multiple Presidential campaigns and has served as manager or general consultant in several races that resulted in stunning upsets, including Michael Nutter’s win as Philadelphia mayor, Bill de Blasio’s win for New York mayor, Steve Beshear’s win as Kentucky governor, and Obama’s presidential campaigns. He is a three-time finalist for the American Association of Political Consultants’ “Campaign Manager of the Year” award, winning in 2013.

Bill started in politics in Minnesota, inspired to the path of populist political disruption by Paul Wellstone, on whose final Senate campaign he worked. He has been lead consultant for John Fetterman (Senate campaign and Lt. Gov race); AOC for Congress; and Lucas Kunce for Senate, among many others.

Bill is a 2001 graduate of St. Cloud State University. Before entering politics, he joined the U.S. Army, serving all over the world. He served as President Obama’s first White House Liaison to the Department of Veterans Affairs.