Shop Talk: Dresner, Wickers Add Partners
Dresner, Wickers and Associates, a full-service Republican consulting firm, has added two partners and changed its name to Dresner Wickers Barber Sanders.
Richard Dresner and Bob Wickers, who founded the firm in 1993, announced the additions of Carolyn Barber and Bryan Sanders.
Barber, who works out of the firm’s San Francisco headquarters, has more than 10 years of media planning and buying experience, including dozens of statewide campaigns and all of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s TV ad placement for his 2008 presidential campaign.
Barber placed ads for Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning, who is now running for Senate, and Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who may also run for Senate.
Sanders runs the firm’s Little Rock, Ark., office and recently managed Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley’s 2010 campaign. Sanders also worked on Huckabee’s presidential campaign and is now married to the former governor’s daughter, Sarah Huckabee, who is also a GOP consultant.
Boggs Starting at Revolution
Avery Boggs has joined Revolution Agency as a vice president. At the Washington, D.C.-based issue advocacy and public affairs firm, Boggs will engage on political and public policy challenges facing the firm’s clients, focusing on the development and execution of integrated communication firms.
Boggs previously advised candidates and issue groups at the Stevens and Schriefer Group.
Earlier this year Revolution Agency added GOP operatives Mike Murphy and Bob Honold as partners.
New Oppo-tunity for Burke
Austin Burke was recently named partner at VR Research, a Democratic opposition research firm with offices in Washington, D.C., and Oakland, Calif. Burke works out of the firm’s D.C. office, where he has been serving as vice president.
Burke was research director for former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack’s brief bid for president, and he also served on the 2004 Senate campaign of former Rep. Brad Carson (D-Okla.) and Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign. The Dean campaign was his first politics job after graduating from college, and he started as a volunteer envelope-stuffer before moving up the ranks.
New Conservative Voice in 2012
The American Conservative Union announced last week the hiring of Kristy Campbell as national communications director.
Campbell served as communications director on former Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum’s gubernatorial campaign last year and previously was former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s chief spokeswoman. After his tenure as governor, Campbell served as communications director for Bush’s two nonprofit public policy organizations.
“Kristy Campbell is an experienced, respected conservative communicator, and I’m pleased to announce this new addition to our ACU team,” ACU Chairman Al Cardenas said.
Host of the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, the ACU touts itself as the oldest and largest grass-roots conservative organization in the country. The ACU also announced in recent months the addition of Gregg Keller as executive director and Chris Malagisi as CPAC director.
Keeping Score
The team behind Rep.-elect Kathy Hochul’s (D) special election victory in New York’s 26th district last week included campaign manager Adam Sullivan and a consulting team that has helped Democrats in other recent special elections.
Pollsters were Jef Pollock and Nick Gourevitch of Global Strategy Group, media consultants were Steve Murphy and Jon Vogel of Murphy Vogel Askew Reilly, and direct-mail consultants were Ed Peavy and Adnaan Muslim of Mission Control.
That team previously helped elect Democrats in two other New York special elections: ex-Rep. Scott Murphy and Rep. Bill Owens in 2009. Murphy was defeated for re-election in 2010.
Bauman to Jewish Council
The National Jewish Democratic Council hired Brad Bauman as communications director. Bauman has nearly a decade of experience on Capitol Hill, most recently serving as communications director for former Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy (D-Ohio). He worked previously as communications manager for the Sunlight Foundation and as communications director for Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) as well as on Kilroy’s 2008 campaign.
The council works as a liaison between the organized Jewish community and the Democratic Party.
Lone Star Hires Help
Former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, who is running in a crowded primary for the Republican Senate nomination in Texas, visited Roll Call recently to discuss his campaign. With $2.6 million in the bank at the end of March, he has hired Mike Slanker as general consultant, Glen Bolger of Public Opinion Strategies as pollster, Scott Howell for media and Majority Strategies for direct mail.
Competing in Iowa?
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R), who is scheduled to formally kick off his presidential campaign this week, recently announced his Iowa leadership team.
The group that will help Romney compete in the first-in-the-nation caucus state includes former Iowa GOP Chairman Brian Kennedy, state Rep. Renee Schulte, Polk County GOP Organization Chairwoman Connie Schmett, GOP activist Alan Lucken, former state GOP Central Committee Member Rose Kramer and former Pottawattamie County GOP Chairman Steve Cates.
“Our Iowa team represents a strong collation of leaders and activists who have spent years serving their community,” Romney said. “I am honored to have their support and look forward to working with them as we advance our pro-growth, pro-jobs message across Iowa.”
Florida, the Real Treasure State
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) announced new additions to his Florida finance team. Phil Handy will serve as Florida chairman and national finance co-chairman of Pawlenty’s presidential campaign, and Justin Sayfie will serve as a Florida co-chairman.
They join Ann Herberger, Pawlenty’s national senior finance adviser, and Gretchen Picotte, his Florida finance director.
Handy served on Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) presidential campaign as Florida chairman and national co-chairman. He was former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s campaign chairman in 1994 and 1998 and co-chairman in 2002. Handy was chairman of the Florida Board of Education for six years and twice appointed by President George W. Bush as vice chairman of the National Board for Education Sciences.
Before founding the government relations firm Blosser & Sayfie in 2001, Sayfie was a senior policy adviser, spokesman and chief speechwriter for then-Florida Gov. Bush. He also runs the popular Florida site SayfieReview.com. Sayfie was a fundraiser for President Bush’s 2004 re-election.
Pawlenty also named Nicole Schlinger to his team. She is a veteran fundraiser and worked for Mitt Romney’s 2008 campaign in Iowa.
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