Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has hired two leading conservative operatives to join his political committee Our American Revival, the Washington Examiner has learned.
Gregg Keller and Gary Marx, who both have deep ties to national conservative groups and have worked previously on high-profile presidential campaigns, will serve as senior advisers overseeing national conservative outreach.
Keller is a former executive director of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, the social conservative group founded in 2009 by Ralph Reed, and is a former executive director of the American Conservative Union, which hosts the Conservative Political Action Conference. He last year founded a consulting firm, Atlas Strategy Group.
Marx, a senior partner at Madison Strategies, is a veteran of both of former President George W. Bush’s campaigns and a former executive director of the Judicial Crisis Network.
Both Keller and Marx worked for Mitt Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign: Keller as national coalitions director, and Marx as director of conservative outreach.
Walker’s positive reputation among conservatives nationally, established when he took on teachers unions in Wisconsin and won a recall election, will face a strength test should he run for president in 2016, as is expected. To shore up his appeal among the base, Walker will likely rely upon a classic anti-Washington message — as in a speech to the American Action Network in Washington on Friday, when Walker described D.C. as “68 square miles surrounded by reality.”
Keller and Marx will help drive that message home, along with a robust and growing campaign team for Walker, who has not yet announced his candidacy for president but has been moving deliberately and publicly in that direction, as evidenced by an aggressive hiring spree in the past month.
Rick Wiley, a former Republican National Committee political director, signed on last month as executive director of Our American Revival, with the intent to serve as campaign manager once Walker launches a bid for president. Walker has also snagged a political director, former RNC national field director Matt Mason, and David Polyansky as senior Iowa adviser.
Earlier this week, Our American Revival also announced it would bring on RNC press secretary Kirsten Kukowski as its communications director, the GOP pollster Ed Goeas as a senior adviser, and Joni Ernst alum Mark Stephenson as chief data officer. Brian Tringali and BJ Martino, of the Tarrance Group, will conduct Walker’s polling.
Walker’s new hires, Keller and Marx, will be announced Thursday.
