Barbour’s Exit from 2012 Field Frees Up Operatives

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour’s announcement Monday that he would not run for president in 2012 came as something of a surprise. He had trips to a number of early primary states planned and a major fundraising dinner scheduled in New York City later this month. However, now that Barbour has determined that he lacks the “fire in the belly” required to commit to running for president, a number of his key supporters and staff will be looking for a new candidate to support and possibly work for.
 
Here is a short list of prominent Barbourites who are likely to be courted by other campaigns in the coming weeks.
 Rob Collins: Politico reports that Collins, Barbour’s prospective campaign manager, had already traveled to Florida with the Mississippi governor and was preparing to move his family to Mississippi when Barbour decided not to run. A former top aide to Rep. Eric Cantor and campaign staffer for former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, Collins was executive director of the American Action Network for the 2010 cycle. 
 Jim Dyke: A longtime “Haley’s PAC” communications advisor and the current president of JDA Frontline, Dyke surprised many when he joined the Barbour camp since his JDA Frontline partner, Kevin Madden, is a vocal supporter of Mitt Romney. Dyke has been a communications advisor to several prominent Republican politicians, including George W. Bush, former Sen. Bill Frist, and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. He also served as communications director for the Republican National Committee in 2004.
 Warren Tompkins: Tompkins was a key part of Barbour’s strategy in South Carolina’s early primary, where Barbour showed strength in recent polls. Tompkins is the founder of the political consulting firm Tompkins & Kinard, LLC. He has extensive presidential campaign experience, having working on Romney’s 2008 bid, the 2004 Bush-Cheney re-election campaign, George H.W. Bush’s 1988 presidential campaign, and both the 1980 and 1984 Reagan-Bush presidential campaigns.
 Hollis “Chip” Felkel: The founder and CEO of The Felkel Group, a corporate public affairs and government relations firm, Felkel is a South Carolina state Republican committeeman and another veteran presidential campaigner. In 1988, he was executive director of the Bush-Quayle campaign in Georgia. He managed then–U.S. Rep. Jim DeMint’s 2002 re-election campaign and served in strategic and communications roles for the 2000 and 2004 Bush-Cheney campaigns in South Carolina.
 Sally Bradshaw: A former associate director of the Office of Political Affairs in the George H.W. Bush White House, Bradshaw is a veteran of Florida politics. She was executive director of the 1992 Bush-Quayle presidential campaign in Florida, managed Jeb Bush’s two campaigns for Florida governor, and served as a top political aide to him when he was in office. She worked on Romney’s 2008 presidential bid in Florida, and her defection to the Barbour camp earlier this year was interpreted as a blow to the former Massachusetts governor.
 Michael Dennehy: The manager of Sen. John McCain’s 2000 and 2008 New Hampshire primary wins signed on to Barbour’s campaign in March. A Republican committeeman in New Hampshire who is particularly well connected in the Granite State, Dennehy also led the successful New Hampshire gubernatorial campaigns of Steve Merrill in 1993 and Craig Benson in 2003.
 Paul Young: Young, the founder and president of the New Hampshire–based Novus Public Affairs, was key to Barbour’s online strategy. He was a volunteer for “Haley’s PAC” and the lead grassroots support generator for Barbour’s campaign.
 James Richardson: An communications advisor and Gov. Barbour’s first PAC hire, Richardson was tasked with mobilizing bloggers in support of his candidacy. Richardson is a popular blogger with RedState.com and in 2010 worked for Indiana Sen. Dan Coats’s campaign and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.An earlier version of this article named James Richardson as an online media consultant and the manager of Barbour’s website.Noah Rothman is the online editor at C&E. E-mail him at nrothman@campaignsandelections.com