Matthew Pagano, the political director for the Minnesota Republican Party, is leaving his post at the end of the month and moving to Iowa to work for a political action committee supporting Rand Paul's presidential bid.
"I think he has a broad appeal, he can do a lot to expand the party and he's just a great candidate," Pagano said Tuesday of Paul, a U.S. senator from Kentucky.
Paul is among a cluster of Republican candidates and likely candidates circling Iowa in preparation for its nation-leading presidential caucus in January.
The Des Moines Register reported Tuesday that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, another heavyweight in the GOP field, is not planning to compete in this August's Iowa Straw Poll, which some see as an early harbinger of caucus strength. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is expected to be a serious contender in the Iowa caucus.
Pagano said his work for the PAC, which he was not ready to identify publicly, would initially focus on helping Paul to do well in the straw poll. Under federal election law, PACs can fundraise and craft political messages on behalf of specific candidates, but are not supposed to directly coordinate with campaigns.
Pagano joined the Minnesota GOP in December 2013. In the 2012 cycle, he worked for the presidential campaign of Rand Paul's father, former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas.
