Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) now has the core of his campaign team in place as he seeks to win a second term against former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen (D), whom he beat in 2002 but now trails by double digits in nearly every poll taken of this year’s race.

[IMGCAP(1)]Set to serve as Sununu’s campaign manager in this contest is Paul Collins, the Senator’s chief of staff in his Congressional office. Collins has run Sununu’s past races and plans to take a leave of absence from his Senate office in the coming months to work the campaign.

Sununu’s media consultant is Fred Davis, a Republican consultant whose firm, Strategic Perception, is based in Los Angeles. Glen Bolger, of the Washington, D.C.-based GOP firm Public Opinion Strategies, is Sununu’s pollster.

Jamie Burnett is the Senator’s deputy campaign manager. Previously he served as New Hampshire political director for

ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s (R) presidential campaign. In 2002, Burnett was Sununu’s field director, serving as the Senator’s legislative director until he left to join the Romney campaign in January 2007.

Julie Teer, a self-employed political consultant based in the Granite State, is advising Sununu on communications strategy and fundraising.

Teer was Sununu’s communications director on his 2002 Senate race and worked on President Bush’s 2004 re-election bid in New Hampshire. She also served as Romney’s deputy national finance director for his White House run.

Rachel Pearson is advising Sununu on fundraising from Washington, D.C.

Navigating an Anti-Union Movement. The Coalition for a Democratic Workplace is in full campaign mode against the Employee Free Choice Act, which, if passed by Congress and signed by the president, would eliminate secret-ballot voting in contests where employees of a company are deciding whether to unionize.

Running the coalition’s media and public-relations effort against this bill is Navigators, a D.C.-based Republican government relations and strategic communications firm.

Leading the communications, media and political strategy for the coalition are Navigators strategists Mike Murphy, a partner in the firm, and Rhonda Bentz, Todd Harris and Rob Stutzman. Murphy, Harris and Stutzman all previously worked as advisers for California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R).

Murphy created the coalition’s most recent television spot that was generated to engender a negative opinion of the Employee Free Choice Act. The ad features an actor from the HBO series “The Sopranos.”

Republican pollster John McLaughlin, of D.C.-based McLaughlin and Associates, was tapped to handle polling for the coalition.

Navigators also has offices in Sacramento, Calif. and Tallahassee, Fla.

Comings and Goings. Clark Pettig has left Rep. Carol Shea-Porter’s (D-N.H.) Congressional office to join former Michigan Lottery Commissioner Gary Peters’ (D) campaign for the Wolverine State’s 9th district.

Pettig is serving as Peters’ communications director in the Democrat’s run against Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R).

Jonathan Murray has hooked on with attorney Ashwin Madia’s (D) campaign for Minnesota’s 3rd district, after his previous campaign gig with attorney Tom Myers, who lost his run for the Democratic nomination in Pennsylvania’s 3rd district.

Murray is serving as Madia’s campaign manager in his bid to capture the seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Jim Ramstad (R). State Rep. Erik Paulsen is Madia’s GOP opponent.

Down on the Farm. Farm Team Consulting has set up shop in Sacramento, Calif. The new Republican firm, run by veteran GOP strategist Andrew Russo, will focus on electing Republicans to city council, county boards of supervisors and other local offices.

Farm Team plans to offer a full plate of campaign services, including strategy, direct mail, television and radio production, media buying, voter-contact programs and Internet marketing. The firm also intends to provide access to polling and opposition research services.

Russo currently runs Paramount Communications, a Republican firm with offices in Santa Barbara, Calif., and Salinas, Calif.

Two Hats. Westchester County Legislator George Oros, the likely Republican challenger to freshman Rep. John Hall (D-N.Y.), is just beginning to assemble his campaign team. But his current political director is Angela Flesland, who doubles as a legislator in Dutchess County, which is also in the 19th district.

As his campaign proceeds, Oros is likely to tap veterans from the political operations of former Gov. George Pataki (R) and Hall’s predecessor, ex-Rep. Sue Kelly (R-N.Y.), both of whom have endorsed his candidacy.

Josh Kurtz and Shira Toeplitz contributed to this report.

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