Romney hires Santorum’s campaign manager

Posted by Philip Rucker
06:57 PM ET, 04/26/2012

WaPo:

Michael Biundo, who managed Rick Santorum’s presidential campaign, is now joining the campaign of Santorum’s former rival Mitt Romney in a key post organizing conservative voters.

The Romney campaign has hired Biundo, a longtime grassroots campaign organizer, as deputy national director of coalitions with a mandate to help unite tea party activists, evangelicals and other conservatives behind the presumptive Republican nominee.

“Mike Biundo ran an outstanding campaign for Senator Santorum, and we are excited that he has agreed to bring his considerable skills and abilities to our team,” Romney spokesman Ryan Williams said. “His decision to join Governor Romney’s campaign is another indication that Republicans are coalescing around Governor Romney’s pro-jobs, pro-growth message and quickly uniting to defeat President Obama.”

Romney’s hiring of Biundo, a veteran New Hampshire operative, was first reported late Thursday by his state’s largest newspaper, the Union Leader. It comes after Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, signaled this week that he will soon endorse Romney following a bruising primary campaign.

Biundo told the Union Leader that the Romney campaign recruited him shortly after Santorum dropped out of the race earlier this month. “I spoke with Rick and made sure it was OK with him before I moved, and he gave his full blessing on it,” Biundo told the Manchester newspaper.

Biundo will work in the Romney campaign’s growing political department, led by national political director Rich Beeson.