Gary Johnson's NH Staffers Quit out of Frustration

UPDATE, 4 P.M.: Eric Jackman, one of the five local staffers Simon referenced, said this afternoon that he has not quit the campaign, but he also said nobody has told him that he had been let go along with the rest of the state team, as Huihui said happened in late October.

Jackman said he hasn't been paid this month, but he did speak with Erik Johnson as recently as last week. But he also acknowledged that there has been "a lot of confusion" surrounding the campaign of late.

Simon, reached again later this afternoon, said he didn't realize Jackman hadn't quit the Johnson team, but said the other four New Hampshire campaign staffers definitely did quit.

An earlier story follows:

The former New Hampshire communications director for Gary Johnson's presidential campaign said all five of the candidate's staffers in the Granite State quit last month over "frustration with the national campaign."

Matt Simon, who joined the Johnson campaign early on, said , but he was followed by the four other paid New Hampshire staffers, including State Coordinator Brinck Slattery.

Grant Huihui, Johnson's campaign scheduler, that all of Johnson's New Hampshire staffers were "let go" in late October, but Simon said that is inaccurate.

"It's more accurate to say everybody quit," Simon said. "We don't want a big public thing , but definitely the New Hampshire staff quit out of frustration with the national campaign."

Simon said he personally was frustrated with the lack of organization and the lack of money that was being put into the campaign in New Hampshire.

"I was frustrated with the way everything was going," he said. "Obviously, it wasn't the campaign we envisioned running. We said all along the idea was to win, to demonstrate credibility and viability, to build an organization and campaign we weren't building. You have to be honest about that at some point."

The Johnson campaign hasn't been able to get much traction in the polls, even here in New Hampshire, where he has spent a considerable amount of time. He , admitting that he "screwed up" and had to fly in at the last minute to fill out the necessary paperwork.

"They just weren't giving us the resources needed to execute the plan," said Simon. "We drew up a plan back in April or May to do well in the New Hampshire Primary. But there was just a lack of resources – not being able to hire people, not being able to get things like yard signs until September when we needed them in May. A lot of people meet Gary Johnson and like him, but they see he doesn't have a campaign so they're not going to go out of their way to support him. It's too bad."

He said to the best of his knowledge, the New Hampshire campaign is now being run by Johnson's son, Erik. Huihui said this morning that three new people have been brought on board, but their exact roles have yet to be determined.

Simon said he continues to believe that Johnson would make an excellent president, but added, "That's not always what this process is about, though." He said it's too soon to say if he'll ever work for another campaign in the future.