RELEASE: Poliquin Announces New Campaign Staff

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JANUARY 12, 2010
CONTACT: BRIAN PHILLPS
207-272-0363
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Brunswick – Today, Bruce Poliquin, candidate for Maine Governor, announced the hiring of several new campaign staff positions.  The additions include an expansion of the field staff responsible for voter outreach and coalition building. 

Zachary Smith, Field Representative, Northern Maine
Zachary Smith is a former chairman of the Aroostook County Republican Committee and caucus organizer.  He also previously served as Chair of the Maine Federation of Young Republicans. He has twice run for the state legislature and has been a member of the Maine State Republican Committee. He has experience working with a number of legislative campaigns and was also selected as an alternate delegate to the 2008 Republican National Convention.

Michael W. Boucher , Field Representative, Central Maine
Michael W. Boucher is a Downeast Maine native.  The son of a lobster fisherman, Michael began working to assist his family at five years-old picking lobsters.  He is a graduate of Ellsworth High School and worked for L. Scott D’Amboise’s campaign for U.S. House District 2.  He comes from a family deeply rooted in service to the State of Maine and the United States and is now pursuing that tradition by working to elect a fiscally responsible government for Maine.

Amelia Chassé , Deputy Field Director and Field Representative, Western and Southern Maine
Amelia Chassé is a native of York, Maine and a 2008 graduate of The George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs.  She participated in U.S. Senator Olympia Snowe’s student internship program, and she served on staff of the McCain-Palin 2008 Presidential Campaign.  While with the McCain-Palin campaign, Amelia participated in the Get Out The Vote effort for McCain’s successful New Hampshire Primary, and served as the Budget Manager for the 2008 Republican National Convention. 

Tyler LeClair, Assistant Field Director
Tyler LeClair has been active in Maine politics since enrolling at the University of Maine Farmington. He is currently a junior and political science major and resides in Benton. In 2007 LeClair was named the Maine College Republican Activist of the Year for his work collecting signatures for the TABOR II campaign. Over the past three years LeClair has also worked on many other signature campaigns including the past two Peoples’ Vetoes. He has volunteered for numerous national and local campaigns.

Zach Jackman, Volunteer and Campus Outreach Coordinator
Zach Jackman is a third year Political Science student at the University of Maine in Orono.  He is the President of the UMaine College Republicans, and is involved with Student Government. He was active in the McCain-Palin campaign and has volunteered his time to elect Republican state legislators in Maine.  He is a member of the Honors College and hosts two radio shows on campus.

Previous staff announcements include:

Brian Phillips, Communications Director
Brian Phillips served as Campaign Coordinator for Poliquin before being promoted to Communications Director in August.  In the last election cycle, he was the Communications Director for U.S. Senate Republican candidate Steve Pearce from New Mexico.  Previous posts include serving as a press secretary on Capitol Hill, Media Relations Director for the Tax Foundation, and Media Associate for the Heritage Foundation.

Jason Emert, Statewide Field Director
Jason Emert recently received his MBA from the University of Louisiana – Lafayette after working on numerous campaigns at the state and local level, including Lamar Alexander’s successful campaign for U.S. Senator from Tennessee.  Emert also brings public opinion research experience to the Poliquin campaign, working for a leading Republican polling firm in Washington, D.C. before pursuing his Masters in Business Administration.

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