TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Suncoast Pinellas News

Have campaign, will travel

ADVERTISEMENT

BY CHERYL BENTLEY

SUNCOAST NEWS STAFF

Published: September 13, 2008

He's a southerner who sprinkles his conversation with "yes, ma'ams," and wants to make sure his mother in Louisiana gets a newspaper article about him.

But he is also a member of a small group of managers whose job is to calculate, one-up the opponent and ultimately to win.

Steven A. Verzwyvelt Jr., a veteran of numerous political campaigns, is now serving as campaign manager for Bob Hackworth, the winner of the Aug. 26 Democratic primary for the U.S. House of Representatives 10th Congressional District that includes most of Pinellas County.

Verzwyvelt hopes the skills he has learned from managing five other campaigns, mostly in the South, and being a paid staff member on about a dozen others, will help carry Hackworth to victory. His job includes setting up the campaign, hiring staff, mapping out campaign strategy and targeting voters.

But Hackworth and Verzwyvelt have their work cut out for him. Hackworth's opponent is Republican incumbent Rep. C.W. Bill Young. Young has represented the district since 1970.

According to his office, Young, who has chalked up some political skills of his own in almost four decades of political life, is serving as his own hands-on campaign manager.

But trying to topple a local political giant doesn't appear to intimidate Verzwyvelt. He can work up to 110 hours a week during the high part of the campaign, Verzwyvelt says, and he loves every minute of it. The variety and pace of campaign life energize him. "From one minute to the next, I don't know what I'm going to be doing. I could be having lunch with a big donor, prepping the candidate, writing a direct mail piece, doing strategy."

The 29-year-old Verzwyvelt is also delighted to be in the sunny land of Florida. He had just begun working on the Illinois campaign of congressional candidate Robert Abboud when during a chilly Illinois spring, he got the call to come to Florida.

"Being a boy from Louisiana wearing shorts and sandals . . . , it looked good," he drawls, referring to the campaign in sunny Florida.

That move looked even better when Hackworth won the primary, defeating two opponents by capturing about 47 percent of the vote.

Recently, Verzwyvelt was the only person in the Hackworth campaign office in downtown Dunedin. In these slow days following the primary, he is now working only about 60 hours a week. Both he and the candidate are now concentrating on fundraising.

Blue against a suntanned skin, eyes are boyish when he remembers how he got into the business. His family owns about 6,000 acres of farm land in Natchitoches, La. Verzwyvelt worked on the farm picking cotton during summer breaks at Louisiana State University, where he majored in political communication and modern political science. "When I was hoeing cotton, I decided there had to be a cooler way to make a living," he grins.

Politics was a logical choice. Verzwyvelt grew up with discussions about politics at the family dinner table. His late father Steven Sr. had also planted the political seed. In 1992, the elder Verzwyvelt traveled around the country speaking to farm groups on behalf of Bill Clinton.

In 2003, Verzwyvelt began his political career in Louisiana working as field director for a gubernatorial candidate who finished fourth. "It was hard to swallow, being as young and naïve as I was," he remembers.

What did he learn from that experience? "I learned I don't like to lose," he responds quickly.

Choosing a candidate is a matter of both gut and calculation, Verzwyvelt explains. He assesses the candidate's chances but he also tries to choose someone for whom he himself would vote. "It's better to work for someone you like and believe in," he said. "It gives you a purpose."

Verzwyvelt readily admits his profession attracts competitive Type A personalities. He says he is at the top of the list in that category. But in the end, members of opposing sides often become friends, perhaps drawn together by the camaraderie of the game. "We all understand the ups and downs of what we are doing," he observes.

Cheryl Bentley can be reached at 727-815-1069 or cbentley@suncoastnews.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT