John McCain shakes up staff, preps for primary

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Sen. John McCain is shaking up his campaign leadership team as the Arizona Republican readies for an all-out ground fight in his closely watched GOP primary battle against former Rep. J.D. Hayworth.

Campaign manager Shiree Verdone is moving to a 2010 "Republican Victory" fundraising operation. Mike Hellon, a former Arizona Republican Party chairman who had a part-time role as deputy campaign manager, will join her there.

Neither Verdone nor Hellon was fired, said Brian Rogers, McCain's campaign spokesman, who confirmed the staff changes Friday in a statement to The Arizona Republic.

"As part of the campaign's plan for this election year, Shiree and Mike are transitioning over to work with party committees to create a ticket-wide Republican Victory operation," Rogers said. "At Victory, they'll work to raise money and organize for the statewide general election, which is vitally important to help Republican candidates win up and down the ballot all across Arizona. Senator McCain is very grateful for all that Shiree and Mike have done to launch the re-election campaign and establish it on a firm footing, and looks forward to working closely with them for Victory in November."

http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/azelections/articles/2010/05/16/20100516john-mccain-arizona-republican.html