Top New Hampshire operative joins Rubio

by David McCabe - 02/09/15 3:43 PM ET

A New Hampshire operative who led Mitt Romney’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns has joined Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) likely White House bid, The New York Times reported on Monday.

Jim Merrill will be a senior adviser to Rubio’s political action committee, which means that, should Rubio choose to run, he would oversee the senator’s campaign operations in the Northeast.

{mosads}He had originally intended to support Romney if the former Massachusetts governor ran again, but Romney’s decision to forgo a run meant that Merrill — and other Romney allies — were available for other campaigns to hire.

Merrill told the Times that Rubio is “the most exciting candidate in the field” and noted Romney had said he was choosing not to run to allow new leaders within the party to rise.

“I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t think he could,” Merrill told the Times, when asked whether Rubio could win the competitive primary. “He knows what it means to engage voters, do town halls, run personal, door-to-door campaigns. I’ve never seen a more talented guy.”

There has been considerable speculation about whether Rubio will run against his political mentor, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush — but Rubio has said Bush’s decision will not affect his own.

There was also tension between the Bush and Romney camps before Romney decided not to run. In a head-to-head race, they would both have competed for the same establishment donors and advisers — and Romney’s team felt that Bush hadn’t been committed enough to getting Romney elected in 2012.

Tags Marco Rubio