Omnicom public affairs unit Mercury has entered a joint venture with Sunshine State consulting firm Florida Partners and hired the Obama campaign’s state director to co-lead its operations there.
Ashley Walker, who oversaw the Obama campaign in Florida and was also Florida director for Organizing for America, takes a managing director role with Mercury. The FP venture takes on the Mercury name with offices in Tallahassee, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa.
Walker is a former staffer to Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.) and worked in his presidential bid.
In Washington, Mercury has added Republican National Committee political director Rick Wiley as a managing director. He worked the Romney/Ryan campaign at the RNC, overseeing a $178M grassroots budget. He earlier worked for the Giuliani presidential campaign and led the Wisconsin Republican Party.
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