Scott Walker is relying on this Alabamian to get him to the White House

Whichever presidential hopeful makes it to the White House in 2017, it will be the result of relentless campaigning that will include raising hundreds of millions of dollars and organizing grassroots efforts all over the country. Candidates will rely on devoted staffers to help them make decisions on how to spend their time and resources, and to implement the campaign’s strategy on the ground.

And when it comes to Wisconsin governor and likely presidential candidate Scott Walker specifically, he’ll be relying heavily on an Alabamian.

Walker’s political organization, Our American Revival (OAR), recently announced the hiring of Mobile, Ala., native Wells Griffith, who will assume the role of deputy political director in the governor’s presidential campaign-in-waiting.

Griffith will “help identify, engage and mobilize supporters from grassroots organizations to elected officials, potential donors, state parties and allied groups,” according to OAR communications director Kirsten Kukowski.

Griffith was previously Deputy Chief of Staff for the Republican National Committee and managed RNC Chairman Reince Priebus’s successful re-election campaign earlier this year. Folks in south Alabama will likely remember Griffith most recently as a candidate for congress. He ran in Alabama’s 1st Congressional District in 2013 after then-congressman Jo Bonner stepped down. Bradley Byrne ultimately won the seat, but Griffith had a respectable showing, even garnering the support of former Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan.

“I’ve known Wells Griffith for a long time and consider him a true friend,” Ryan said at the time. “Wells is committed to moving our country and our party forward.”

Griffith now joins Walker’s team just as the governor has become one of the frontrunners for the Republican presidential nomination. He won three gubernatorial races in the span of four years — his first election in 2010, followed by a recall in 2012 and his re-election to a second full term in 2014. Those hard-fought victories in a purple state have made him a hero to many conservatives around the nation, as well as a favorite among wealthy donors who believe he’s a proven winner. That rare combination of grassroots backing and big-donor support promises to make him particularly formidable in a national race.

But Griffith told Yellowhammer it is more than Walker’s electability that compelled him to join his team, it is the principles for which he stands.

“Despite consistent challenges from big government special interests, Gov. Walker has proven that small government conservative reforms are the pathway to the American revival,” he said. “Where many have been too afraid to stand up to special interests, Gov. Walker has acted on the bold ideas that return control of government to hard working taxpayers. His leadership is inspirational and I look forward to advocating for the policies and principles he has championed.”