Pawlenty picks up support of Romney defector

By Glen Johnson, Globe Staff

Republican presidential contender Tim Pawlenty announced today that his campaign has been endorsed by Bruce Keough, who had been New Hampshire campaign chairman for rival Mitt Romney during his 2008 White House campaign.

Pawlenty released the news on the same day Romney planned a series of campaign stops across New Hampshire for his 2012 campaign. The former Massachusetts governor is hoping a win next winter in the first presidential primary state will launch him toward the GOP nomination.

Keough told Mother Jones magazine in May that he was abandoning Romney because he felt he wasn’t consistent enough with his positions.

“I don’t think the voters are looking for somebody who’s going to be recasting himself,” he said. “They want somebody who’s been true to a certain set of political ideals for a while.”

Keough initially said he was considering backing Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, but he decided against launching a presidential campaign.

Several other past Romney supporters have also left for rival campaigns, including New Hampshire-based GOP consultant Rich Killion, who also is aligned with Pawlenty, and Wally Stickney, who decided to Jon Huntsman, a former Utah governor and US ambassador to China.

Today, Romney announced that he had picked up the endorsement of state Senator Jim Rausch, a Republican from Derry.

A campaign spokeswoman also noted that Romney had picked up the support of former House Speaker Doug Scamman, who supported former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in the 2008 race, and at least three political figures who had remained neutral in the race four years ago.

Among that latter group is state Senator Jeb Bradley.

Keough is a private investor who formerly served as a New Hampshire state senator and chairman of board of trustees for the University System of New Hampshire, which oversees the University of New Hampshire, Plymouth State University, Keene State College, and Granite State College.

He also was a candidate for the New Hampshire Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2002.

Keough will now serve on Pawlenty’s National Policy Committee and his New Hampshire Steering Committee, according to a statement from Pawlenty’s campaign that also mentioned Keough’s prior affiliation with Romney.

“Bruce Keough is an individual with a track record of fiscal discipline and accomplishment in both the public and private sector, and I am honored to receive his support,” Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota, said in a statement. “I look forward to receiving his counsel on crafting much-needed common sense policy reforms to our nation’s most pressing challenges.”

Keough said: “The tangled mess in Washington and the current shutdown in Minnesota demonstrate why America needs Governor Tim Pawlenty’s leadership. We’ve had enough of the president’s inability to set priorities and make difficult choices.”