Publisher’s Note: Both of the leading candidates for the Republican nomination for Governor next year are in the process of putting together their campaign structure to carry them through to the primary, and each campaign would tell you, through the general election. Today we are putting the spotlight on Jillian Hasner, who was recently hired as campaign operations manager by Meg Whitman’s campaign.
FR readers should understand that a campaign manager is typically not a campaign “strategist” or a consultant (which is not to say that a CM wouldn’t have a seat at the campaign strategy table). This position is usually the senior staff spot on a campaign, and typically it falls to this person to ensure that all of the aspects of a campaign are being executed upon and are moving forward. Needless to say, this role with a Gubernatorial level campaign is quite complex and time consuming, and requires a top notch operative… Flash
Jillian Hasner, Campaign Operations Manager
Meg Whitman For Governor
By Jon Fleischman, Publisher, FlashReport.org
This past week, GOP Gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman officially brought on board veteran Republican political operative Jillian Hasner to be Campaign Operations Manager. Hasner’s primary role with the campaign, according to an internal memo sent by senior campaign strategist and longtime Whitman professional associate and confidant Henry Gomez will be to work with him and with Jeff Randle (a longtime FlashReport friend and who, along with Gomez, is at the helm of the Whitman campaign) on, “making all aspects of the campaign run brilliantly,” – and Gomez goes on to say that, “all administrative and policy functions will report to Jillian,” and that she will be working with the political shop as well.
Sound like a tall order? Especially when you consider that we are talking about a statewide campaign for California’s top job – with both a tough primary and general election ahead? Not so much for Jillian Hasner. While this will be Hasner’s first foray into California politics (well, except for a 1996 role heading up corporate and association affairs for the 1996 Republican National Convention in San Diego), she has a very impressive and long history of accomplishment when it comes to working to elect Republicans to office.
Politically, Jillian has worked at every major campaign level…for President (Bush-Cheney ‘00 and Bush-Quayle ‘92), Governor (George Voinovich-Ohio; Jeb Bush-Florida); U.S. Senate (Mike Dewine-Ohio; Paul Coverdell-Georgia); U.S. Congress (Rob Portman-Ohio; Steve LaTourette-Ohio).
Since former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is a friend, I asked him what he thought of Whitman’s hiring of Hasner. He told me that, “Jillian is hard working, smart as a whip, loyal and involved in politics for the right reasons. Meg Whitman is smart to choose Jillian to work in her campaign.”
This is a strong endorsement from the still-popular former Governor who is known to be quite judicious with his compliments. Jillian not only work on Bush’s successful gubernatorial campaign, but she also spent time working in his administration, where one of her co-workers was a face familiar to many California politics – Donna Arduin. Arduin had been the Director of Finance for Florida at the time, a position she went on to serve for Governor Schwarzenegger here in California right after the Governor’s election in the 2003 recall.
I reached out to Donna who was quick to tell me that, "Meg Whitman is fortunate to have Jillian on board. She is a smart, solid professional with great experience and credentials. She was instrumental to Jeb’s success in Florida and has national experience that will be very useful for a state that needs fresh ideas."
Recently, Jillian served as the National Executive Director of the National Women’s Committee (NWC) of the Republican Jewish Coali¬tion, an organization which, along with her husband, Adam, she has devoted quite a bit of time. Adam Hasner currently serves as the Majority Leader in the Florida State House.
In Washington, DC, Jillian helped Secretary of State Colin Powell launch the US Global Development Alliance for USAID, a landmark, award-winning, pub¬lic-private initiative that has helped nations rebuild after wars and earthquakes, created a global alliance for vaccines, improved labor standards in Latin America, and built information technology capacity worldwide. Jillian subsequently supervised regional field offices at the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development under now U.S. Senator (and former Republican National Chairman) Mel Martinez.
As if all of this activity isn’t enough (that old adage, “the busiest people get the most done” comes to mind), Jillian’s also has a long list of community and charitable work includes AIPAC, Guardian Ad-Litem, The Susan G. Komen Foundation, The American Heart Association, Junior League, Kids-in-Distress, hospital volunteer and serving on the Board for the Center for the Arts.
Jillian is a graduate of New York’s Nyack College with a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration, specializing in organizational and strategic management.
Meg Whitman’s enthusiasm at having Jillian on board running campaign operations is quite evident. She told FR that, Jillian’s ability to lead under pressure, her organizational skills and, my personal favorite, her ‘team first’ mentality, are strengths I admire. Jillian’s complements and strengthens our organization immensely.” Whitman went on to say that, "We looked throughout California and across America for someone who has been tested and proven, and Jillian Hasner is a perfect fit,"
I’ll close with the sentiments of a longtime personal friend of both Jillian’s and mine, Randy Enwright, who is one of Florida’s most esteemed Republican political veterans, and who was the senior strategist for the George W. Bush campaign in 2000, which you will recall was the election that went on for weeks as the recount left the final outcome in doubt. He said of Jillian, “I have no doubt whatsoever that were it not for Jillian’s pivotal efforts in that campaign, there would have been no need for a recount, because Al Gore would have won Florida’s electoral votes, and the White House.”
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