Gov. Scott Walker is adding veteran GOP strategist and Iowa expert to his political team as the Wisconsin Republican considers a possible 2016 presidential bid.
The addition of David Polyansky gives Walker’s team a big dose of Iowa experience. The strategist helped engineer former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s win in the 2008 Iowa Republican caucuses and also served as deputy campaign manager for former Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, who won the 2011 Iowa straw poll.
Polyansky most recently served as a strategist for Sen. Joni Ernst, who scored a decisive victory in her 2014 race and this week delivered the GOP response to President Obama’s State of the Union address.
Walker, who won re-election to a second term last November, has said he’s seriously weighing a potential run for the White House, and is among the confirmed attendees of this weekend’s Iowa Freedom Summit. The other potential Republican contenders scheduled to address the conference include Huckabee, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.
The Texas-based Polyansky, who will be in Iowa this weekend, will serve as a senior adviser, and help Walker assemble a team in the Hawkeye State.
The news of Polyansky signing on with Walker was first reported by the Des Moines Register.