Two longtime top advisers to 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney, Beth Myers and Peter Flaherty, are joining former Florida governor Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign, people familiar with the move said.
Beth Myers, who was Romney’s chief of staff when he was governor of Massachusetts and campaign manager for his 2008 presidential run before serving as senior adviser on his 2012 bid, and Peter Flaherty, a State House aide who was deputy campaign manager in 2008 and a senior adviser in 2012, will endorse Bush and work as advisers, said the people briefed on the decision.
The two are expected to help Bush prepare for the series of candidate debates that begins next month.
The move comes as Bush has worked to consolidate support among the GOP establishment, and holds onto one of the top spots in a crowded field of 15 candidates.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, with Bush at the front of the pack, formally launched his campaign on Monday. Walker is due Thursday in New Hampshire, a state where Romney placed second in 2008 and won in 2012.
Many of Romney’s former aides have splintered among the Republican candidates. But Myers and Flaherty are two of his longest-serving advisers and remain personally close to the former Massachusetts governor.
A third member of the Boston-based firm and longtime Romney adviser, Eric Fehrnstrom, has not publicly lined up behind any candidate.
Source: Boston Globe | Jim O’Sullivan
