Yorker takes job with Bernie Sanders campaign

The York County Democrats' onetime field organizer is returning to national politics to work for presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders' campaign.

S. Prescott Harris II will head to Charleston, South Carolina, later this week to begin work as a field director on the Democrat's campaign.

"I feel Sen. Sanders is more in line with what I believe," Harris said Monday. "I believe in what I'm doing."

Harris came to York in late 2014 when he was hired as the Democratic Party of York County's field organizer. He left that job for a position with the state's Democratic Party in June.

Parallels: Harris, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, left the private sector in 2008 to work as a field organizer for Obama for America in New Mexico.

Though the 2016 presidential election is more than a year away, Harris said he sees a parallel between President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign and that of Sanders, an independent from Vermont.

"They (voters) don't want another politician. They want a public servant," he said.

Sanders, often portrayed as an underdog to frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton, has gained a grass-roots-driven following, something then-Sen. Obama achieved in his election bid.

The Sanders camp announced last week it had reached 1 million online donations, nearly five months ahead of when Obama did in 2008.

Harris noted more than 20,000 Sanders' supporters attended a weekend rally in Boston to hear from the 74-year-old presidential contender.

In York: Though Harris is leaving York City, he said he intends to keep ties and maintain a home here.

"York has helped me become a better leader. I look forward to staying engaged," Harris said. "This is not farewell. I'll be back."

Since Harris left York's Democratic Party, party officials haven't yet filled the position, instead focusing on the municipal election, said chairman Chad Baker.

He said the local Dems will focus on internal staffing after the November election.

"We wish Prescott the best of luck in his current endeavors. He has a broad and thorough knowledge of the Democratic Party and the campaign process and will be an asset to Mr. Sanders' campaign," Baker said.

— Reach Greg Gross at ggross@yorkdispatch.com.