'Run Warren Run' hires Iowa staff, opening campaign office

A liberal activist group that wants U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., to run for president in 2016 plans to open a campaign office in Des Moines and has announced the hiring of a state field director and four field organizers.

MoveOn.org Political Action says Blair Lawton, a graduate of Morningside College in Sioux City, will lead organizing efforts in Iowa. Lawton was the get-out-the-vote director in 2014 for the Alaska Democratic Coordinated Campaign and was a regional field director for President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign in Iowa.

"With a year until the Iowa Caucuses, we're ready to show Sen. Warren that she has the grassroots support necessary to mount a successful campaign, and thousands of Iowans are ready for her vision of giving everyone a fighting chance," said Ilya Sheyman, executive director of MoveOn.org Political Action.

Warren has repeatedly said she won't run for president in 2016, but that hasn't deterred liberal activists from trying to launch an effort to draft her for a White House run.

The Run Warren Run campaign office is scheduled to open before the end of the month at 419 S.W. Eighth St. in Des Moines.