The Begalas and Gillespies of Tomorrow?

Campaigns & Elections magazine announced Wednesday its 2007 Rising Stars of political consulting and advocacy. The magazine culled the 10 Democrats, 10 Republicans and five nonpartisan professionals — all under

age 35 — from a pool of several hundred.

Among them: Nick Ayers, executive director of the Republican Governors Association; Sarah Flowers, who developed Planned Parenthood’s 2006 plan; Justin Germany, director of online video for John McCain’s presidential effort; Jennifer Hallowell, executive director for Rudy Giuliani’s New Hampshire organization; Heather Kennedy, manager of government relations for Home Depot; Evan Kozlow, director of member services for the National Republican Congressional Committee; Michael Markarian, executive vice president for the Humane Society of the United States; Sara Simmons, McCain’s deputy strategist; and Jessica VandenBerg, who managed Sen. Jim Webb’s campaign last year.

Past winners have included Paul Begala, Ed Gillespie, Karen Hughes, Ralph Reed and George Stephanopoulos.