Seasoned Republican PR aide Kyle Downey has been enlisted as press secretary for the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa in August.
Downey, who was communications director for two legislators considered possible vice presidential picks by GOP nominee Mitt Romney, is one the party’s “most effective and respected voices,” said Williams Harris, CEO of the convention’s organizing committee.
Jim Davis, a former Gibraltar Associates and Brunswick Group staffer, is communications director for the confab.
Downey exits the Senate Republican Conference, where he was communications director for the group of the party’s 47 senators. He held the same title for the Senate Republican Policy Committee, Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), and Rep. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), the latter two who are reportedly in the conversation for vice president.
Downey was also press secretary for the House Republican Conference under Rep. J.C. Watts (R-Okla.).
The GOP convention is set for Aug. 27-30.