[Dion]

Kenney's new UCP campaign team worked with Stephen Harper, B.C.'s Christy Clark

Jason Kenney has named his top staffer as the lead official for the United Conservative Party campaign in 2019.

Kenney on Wednesday announced the UCP’s senior officials for the upcoming provincial election, slated for spring of next year.

All three have significant roots in Stephen Harper’s former federal Conservative government, if not Alberta politics.

Nick Koolsbergen, currently the chief of staff for the UCP caucus, will become the party’s campaign director in September.

Koolsbergen has previously served as director of issues management in Harper’s PMO and chief of staff for British Columbia’s former premier, Christy Clark.

Dimitri Pantazopoulos, who has advised on strategy and public opinion research for Harper and Clark, as well as new Ontario premier Doug Ford, has been named senior strategic adviser for the UCP campaign, handling advertising and polling.

Andrea Smotra, a former regional affairs adviser for Harper, has been named the UCP’s director of election readiness. She has also worked for Manitoba premier Brian Pallister and as a campaign staffer for the Saskatchewan Party, and most recently served as intergovernmental affairs strategist for the City of Red Deer

https://edmontonsun.com/news/politic...f-8046c86eb61a