STRIKE EVERYTHING: L’Ecuyer joins Goddard campaign

Terry Goddard’s gubernatorial campaign brought on a second high-profile member of the Napolitano administration with the addition of Jeanine L’Ecuyer as deputy campaign manager.

L’Ecuyer served as former Gov. Janet Napolitano’s deputy chief of staff for communications. Prior to joining the Goddard campaign, L’Ecuyer served as vice president of communications for ECOtality, a clean energy technology company.

L’Ecuyer’s addition to the campaign comes as Goddard strives to overcome dramatic increases in incumbent Gov. Jan Brewer’s popularity and approval ratings. Brewer, whose ability to win the GOP primary was in serious doubt six months ago, got a major political boost by signing S1070, the state’s landmark illegal immigration bill.

That boost pushed Brewer’s Republican primary challengers out of the race, and recent polls give her a sizeable lead over Goddard, who is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination. A July 16 Rocky Mountain Poll showed Brewer with a 20-point lead over Goddard.

L’Ecuyer said it’s too early to put much stock into such polls. She said she believes voters will be impressed by Goddard’s resume as attorney general, and said there is plenty of time left in the campaign season to get his message out.

“He’s the one who’s really done a lot of the heavy lifting on a lot of issues here in Arizona,” L’Ecuyer said.

One of those issues, L’Ecuyer said, is immigration. She cited Goddard’s record of cracking down on money laundering and wire transfers by Mexican drug cartels as a top accomplishment of his eight years as Arizona’s top prosecutor.

“He’s the guy who figured out how to cut the cash to cartels, and the system that he’s put in place has been tremendously effective. As a matter of fact, it has been cited as a model for other states to use,” she said.

L’Ecuyer served as director of communications for Napolitano’s 2006 reelection. The only other campaign job she’s ever had, she said, was stuffing envelopes for former Gov. Sam Goddard, Terry Goddard’s father.

In June, Goddard brought on former Napolitano chief of staff Jan Lesher as campaign manager. Lesher replaced Rodd McLeod, who subsequently joined U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ reelection campaign.