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Massachusetts Special Campaigns Hire Local Talent | Shop Talk

Massachusetts candidates in the Senate special election scouted local talent for their primary campaigns that will end on Tuesday.

Many of the Democratic operatives on this race worked for Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. On the GOP side, candidate teams are populated with alumni from Mitt Romney’s presidential effort.

These candidates are seeking to replace Secretary of State John Kerry in the Senate. The general election is June 25.

The Democrats

• Rep. Stephen F. Lynch tapped Jay Cincotti, of Boston-based Cence Cincotti Strategies, as his campaign manager and Ed Jesser as his senior adviser. Scott Ferson and Conor Yunits of Liberty Square Group make up his press shop. Steve Murphy of MVAR Media is his media consultant, while Brad Bannon of Bannon Communications Research is his pollster. L.A. Harris is his fundraiser.

• Rep. Edward J. Markey hired Sarah Benzing as his campaign manager. Last cycle, Benzing led Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, to victory in a targeted race. Two veterans of Warren’s campaign, Colleen Coffey and Michael Pratt, work as his finance team. Markey’s campaign did not respond to an inquiry seeking additional information about his team.

The Republicans

• Former U.S. Attorney Mike Sullivan hired Beth Myers and Peter Flaherty as his senior advisers. Both served as high-ranking advisers in the Romney gubernatorial administration and in his presidential campaigns.

• Businessman Gabriel Gomez also hired a few Romney veterans for his team, including strategist Gail Gitcho, Press Secretary Will Ritter and Treasurer Brad Crate. His campaign manager is Jill Neunaber, and his political director is Ryan Coleman. OnMessage Inc. is his polling firm, and Doug Robinson is his fundraiser. His communications strategist is Leonardo Alcivar, and Erin Bradley is the operations director.

• State Rep. Dan Winslow tapped additional Romney alumni, including campaign manager Bobby Talbot, communications director Charlie Pearce and senior strategist Charley Manning.

The Other Growth and Opportunity Project

The Republican National Committee went on a hiring spree in recent weeks, bringing on Kris Anderson as research director and Amani Council as director of African-American communications.

It also released the names of the committee’s new regional political directors:

• Matt Mason will manager the Upper South and Midwestern areas of the Rust Belt.

• Josh Kivett’s portfolio will include most of the Deep South and Oklahoma.

• Mark Jefferson’s desk will cover the Midwest.

• James Garcia will cover much of the Southwest and Alaska.

• Peter Graves will be the regional political director for the Northwest and Hawaii.

New to the List

EMILY’s List, the Democratic group that backs female candidates who support abortion rights, announced additions to its political advisory and finance teams for 2014. The new hires will report to Campaigns Director Jonathan Parker.

• Emily Campbell is the Western campaign finance and political adviser.

• Garrick Delzell is the Eastern political adviser.

• Peggy Egan is the Western political adviser.

• Jessica Post is the Midwest political adviser.

• Devin Rankin will be the Eastern campaign finance adviser.

• Mary Jane Volk is the senior campaign finance and political adviser.

Red Dawn

Tar Heel State Republican operatives Todd Poole and Andy Yates formed a new firm last week, Red Dome Group.

The North Carolina-based shop will offer public affairs, issue advocacy and political consulting. Poole and Yates have political experience in the state and for Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C.

Jamestown Expands

Jamestown Associates has hired John Konkus as vice president, expanding the firm into Florida.

He will lead the opening of the firm’s new Tallahassee office. Most recently, Konkus served as chief of staff to former Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, a Republican who resigned in March.

Changing of the Guard

Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, a top Democratic polling firm, announced last week that Chief Operating Officer Howard Briskin, will step down from that role this week.

Ismael Savadogo, the company’s chief financial officer, will succeed Briskin as vice president for operations and chief financial officer.

Red Money

Liz Murray joined the Republican State Leadership Committee as finance director last week. Her previous work includes fundraising for the National Republican Senatorial Committee and a number of GOP incumbent senators and presidential campaigns.

Please send news of developments in the political industry to shoptalk@rollcall.com and follow us on Twitter @RCShopTalk.

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