Thompson hires Florida aide with ties to Bush

The undeclared presidential bid of former Sen. Fred Thompson continues to add pieces to its campaign puzzle as it has now hired its top operative for the key state of Florida, a source close to the Thompson campaign told The City Paper.

Longtime Republican consultant Randy Enwright will be the Thompson campaign’s main operative in Florida, which besides being a crucial state in the general election also is an early primary state.

Florida’s primary is Jan. 29, a few days prior to the onslaught of states, including Tennessee, which will hold their primaries Feb. 5.

Enwright has ties to the Bush family in Florida and beyond, working for or consulting on behalf of the campaigns of Presidents George H.W. Bush and President George W. Bush, as well as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

“He is Mr. Florida,” the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said of Enwright.

Enwright is a former executive director to the Florida Republican Party and the Iowa Republican Party and served as the Florida political director for the Republican National Committee from 2001 through the 2005-2006 election.

According to the book Winning Florida: How the Bush Team Fought the Battle, Enwright, who the book describes as “perhaps the soundest GOP consultant in Florida,” played a key role.

When the current President Bush was embroiled in the vote counting controversy that was the Florida election in 2000, Enwright was one of the top Florida Republicans that convinced the Bush campaign in Texas that former Vice President Al Gore had not in fact won Florida outright, according to the book.

A spokesperson for Thompson would not comment on this story.

Enwright coming on board continues Thompson’s assemblage of a campaign team. The former senator and actor also has hired Andrew Dorr as his Iowa political director.

Still, Thompson has not declared his candidacy.

Officially, Thompson is “testing the waters,” which allows him to raise money and gauge interest among GOP donors while not being required to disclose his totals to the Federal Election Commission. He only has to do that if he gets into the race.

Without declaring his candidacy, Thompson has performed superbly in Republican primary polls.

In a national survey released Tuesday conducted by Rasmussen Reports, Thompson led three potential Republican opponents, garnering 27 percent of the support.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani collected 24 percent while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney harvested 13 percent and Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona) 12 percent.

The Rasmussen poll was conducted June 25-28 and surveyed 624 likely Republican primary voters. The margin for error was plus or minus (+/-) 4 percent.