RNC vet to head prominent conservative group

The prominent conservative group American Action Network has hired Republican National Committee chief of staff Mike Shields to be its new president.

{mosads}Shields, who joined the RNC in 2013 as part of an effort to diagnose the party’s failings in the 2012 election cycle, will also head the group’s sister PAC, the Congressional Leadership Fund, which has close ties to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

“Our vision for center-right policy influence has become a reality with AAN’s success, and I’m proud to have the estimable Mike Shields lead us even farther,” said Fred Malek, co-founder of the American Action Network.

Shields replaces outgoing president Brian O. Walsh, who is leaving to join the Texas-based political firm, Red Print Strategy. In a press release, the groups said they raised more than $100 million under Walsh’s leadership since 2011.

“During this time, AAN has become a leading voice for center-right policy solutions, including advocating for immigration reform, against Obamacare, and in building a national grassroots network of center-right policy advocates,” the groups said in a statement

The AAN and CLF spent big in 2014 and are credited with helping Republicans bolster their majority in the House. The CLF swooped in late in the 2014 cycle and dropped millions of dollars in blue states in an effort to run up the score.