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(Lori Piotrowski) – Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign is stepping up its game by expanding its staff with experienced campaign professionals. New senior advisors include Joe M. Allbaugh, Tony Fabrizio and Fred Maas, and Curt Anderson, Jim Innocenzi, and Nelson Warfield have signed on to form the campaign’s national media team. The campaign’s congressional liaison will be Stanton Anderson.
Perry said of the team, “These experienced advisors will play an instrumental role in helping me share my vision to get America working again with the nation, and I am proud to have their support as our campaign expands.”
These advisors have more campaigns under their collective belt than Sugar Ray Leonard has won boxing matches. Chalking up the tally, Allbaugh managed George W. Bush’s 1994 gubernatorial campaign and 2000 presidential campaign, and Rudy Giuliani’s 2008 presidential campaign.
Tony Fabrizio, principal of Fabrizio, McLaughlin & Associates, is an expert on public opinion and politics and one of the nation’s leading GOP pollsters. Fabrizio was Dole’s pollster and strategist for that 1996 presidential campaign, and in 2010, Fabrizio served as pollster and strategist for Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s successful campaign. Fabrizio also served as pollster and strategist for the independent expenditure effort of the Republican Governors Association in the Georgia governor’s race in 2010 as well as the National Republican Congressional Committee’s IE efforts in 12 congressional districts, resulting in the election of 11 new GOP members of Congress.
Although Fred Maas, founder and CEO of Pacific EcoCompanies, LLC, has specialized in investments and the development of sustainable buildings, communities and clean technologies, he too has a political bent. Maas has participated in national, state and local politics for more than 30 years, and worked for numerous prominent political figures, including John McCain, Bob Dole, Jack Kemp, Pete du Pont, Richard Lugar, and Mitch Daniels.
In addition to serving in the White House during Reagan’s term, Curt Anderson, a partner with OnMessage, was a senior strategist for Steve Forbes in 1999, directed coalition outreach efforts for the Bush/Cheney campaign in 2000, led the RNC’s independent expenditure ad campaign to re-elect President Bush in 2004, was a member of the ad team for Mitt Romney’s campaign in 2007/2008, and led the RNC’s independent expenditure campaign against President Obama in the fall of 2008.
Jim Innocenzi is a founding partner of the award-winning national political advertising firm Sandler-Innocenzi. Innocenzi has been the creative lead behind dozens of high profile political campaigns, including: Governors Dave Heineman of Nebraska and Butch Otter of Idaho; Congressmen Tom Rooney (FL), John Mica (FL), Mike Turner (OH) and Steve Buyer (IN); Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis (WY); and former GOP leader Adam Putnam (FL).
Rounding out the media team is Nelson Warfield, founder of Warfield & Company, a national media firm that helped secure wins in 2010 for Gov. Rick Scott in Florida, Sen. Pat Toomey in Pennsylvania ,and Congressman Tim Scott in South Carolina. In 1996, he was the national press secretary for Bob Dole’s presidential campaign.
Stanton Anderson brings a business background to the campaign, currently serving as senior counsel to the president and CEO of the United States Chamber of Commerce and previously served as executive vice president and chief legal officer. He has managed a number of Republican conventions and served as counsel to the Reagan-Bush campaign in 1980.
