Huckabee picks chief for Iowa campaign

Kansan led Nebraskan’s ’12 Senate win

WASHINGTON -- Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee announced Thursday that he has hired someone to lead his Iowa campaign.

Aaron Trost, 35, of Lenexa, Kan., will serve as Iowa director for Huckabee for President. The Republican candidate won the Iowa caucus in 2008 and has campaigned heavily in the state since announcing his 2016 bid in May.

Trost, a senior associate at Kansas City-area consulting firm Singularis Group, was campaign manager for U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., who defeated former U.S. Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb., in 2012.

Trost was one of 15 Republicans under age 35 named a "Rising Star" by Campaigns and Elections magazine in 2013.

Huckabee also announced Thursday that he had been endorsed by the Rev. Terry Amann, who will act as Iowa co-chairman of Pastors for Huckabee. Amann is pastor at Walnut Creek Church, which has several locations in central Iowa.

Huckabee's campaign organization in Iowa now includes 145 local leaders and 73 county chairmen. He also has created several groups including Homeschoolers for Huckabee, Pastors for Huckabee, Fair Tax for Huckabee, Students for Huckabee and Veterans for Huckabee.

"I am thrilled with the organization we are building on the ground in Iowa, which I know from experience makes all the difference in the Iowa caucuses," Huckabee said in a statement.

Huckabee has a larger organization in Iowa than he did eight years ago, when he was just beginning to expand his staff after finishing second in the Iowa Straw Poll. The Straw Poll was canceled this year after Huckabee and other Republicans said they planned to skip it.

Huckabee's 2008 campaign had a handful of county chairmen, and a paid staff "not much bigger than a softball team" as the New York Times described it in a December 2007 profile of Huckabee.

Eric Woolson, who managed Huckabee's win in the Iowa Caucuses in 2008, signed on to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's 2016 campaign earlier this year.

Metro on 08/28/2015

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