UPDATE: A
third member of Jeb Bush’s inner circle with Michigan ties — the strongest
links of all to state politics — is Josh Venable. Like Emily Benavides (see
below), Venable, 33, is a young rising star in the national GOP. He worked for
the Michigan Republican Party from 2005 to 2011, holding the various titles of
deputy political director, director of strategic planning, finance director and
operations director.

The Washington Post describes his role in the Bush
campaign this way: “A policy aide, he’s been part of Bush’s traveling team,
briefing him on the road and keeping tabs on what needs to be followed up on
after events. Previously, he (was) the RNC’s former deputy finance director and
worked for Bush’s nonprofit education foundation.”

 

*****
With Jeb Bush officially in the presidential race and some pundits declaring that he has done all the right things by assembling a top-notch campaign team and lining up key Republican donors, it’s interesting to note that two members of the former Florida governor’s inner circle have Michigan ties.

Trent Wisecup is Bush’s director of strategy and Emily Benavides is the campaign’s Hispanic communications director.

Wisecup

Wisecup, a veteran political operative, worked for former senator Spence Abraham and former congressman Joe Knollenberger. Benavides was Gov. Rick Snyder’s communications director during his successful re-election bid last year.
Wisecup served as media spokesman for Abraham during the 2000 campaign, spokesman on Ronna Romney’s 1994 and 1996 U.S. Senate campaigns, and his work for Knollenberg for several years* included the title of chief of staff. 
According to the Washington Post, during the 2012 cycle Wisecup was strategist to the National Republican Congressional Committee. He’s also worked for former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), and Bush and Mitt Romney when they served as governors.

Benavides’ post on the Jeb 2016 team is a unique role among top-tier GOP presidential campaigns, according to the Post. Her job entails keeping in touch with reporters for Spanish-language newspapers and television reporters working for Univision, Telemundo and their affiliates.
Benavides

In a story published last October, “40 under 40 Latinos in American politics,”  the Huffington Post described Benavides this way:
“At 29 years old, she is already one of the Republican Party’s top Latina communications operatives. Emily rose from working as a congressional staffer to being handpicked by Mitt Romney as his National Hispanic Press Secretary during the 2012 presidential election.
“After the election, the Spanish Embassy to the United States chose Emily to meet with the Crown Prince of Spain in Madrid as an ambassador for the U.S. Hispanic community. … In her extremely limited free time, Emily volunteers as one of the founders of RightNow Women PAC, which raises funds for center-right women to run for federal office.”

                                        

   * Wisecup’s controversial departure from Knollenberg’s staff may inevitably resurface at some point during the long presidential campaign. He left in 2007 after engaging in an angry rant against a MoveOn.org anti-Iraq War protester in Oakland County who was shadowing the congressman with a video camera. The blow-up made its way onto YouTube.

 

 

 

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