Jeb Bush has hired a top aide for his likely presidential campaign.
Tim Miller, who helped establish the Republican opposition research outfit America Rising, will join Bush’s political committee, Right To Rise, as a senior adviser on communications. The hire, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, was confirmed by Miller in a tweet.
“Thrilled and honored to work for a great person with the right message,” he wrote.
Miller founded America Rising with Mitt Romney’s former campaign manager Matt Rhoades and Joe Pounder, another former RNC communications aide, with the goal of going toe-to-toe with the Democratic opposition research and tracking group American Bridge. The gambit worked: America Rising now commands an $8 million budget, according to the Journal’s report, and is the prominent messaging foil to Hillary Clinton, the likely Democratic presidential nominee.
Miller, who will likely put that Clinton research to use on Bush’s team, served as executive director for the group’s PAC.
He formerly served as press secretary for former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman’s ill-fated presidential campaign, and afterward transitioned to communications director for the Republican National Committee for the 2012 cycle. In those posts, Miller established a strong rapport with many Washington reporters who will cover the next presidential election.
