Texas political operatives have scattered across the country in recent months to sign up with fledgling presidential campaigns. This cycle, no single White House hopeful has the market cornered on them — a departure from 15 years ago, when Texas operatives flocked to Austin and beyond to elect the hometown favorite, George W. Bush, to the presidency.

It is a testament to the state’s size that a native son or daughter is working at the highest level of nearly every presidential team, Democrat and Republican alike.

These are the staffers and advisers — listed by the candidate they’re working for — who wield enormous power in the day-to-day mechanics and strategy of each 2016 bid. Some were reared in Texas and now live on the East Coast or are on the campaign trail. Others on this list may not be Texans by birth but are established figures here who spent at least a decade building their names in Lone Star circles.

 

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Abby Livingston joined The Texas Tribune in 2014 as the publication's first Washington bureau chief, and departed August 2022. In this role, she covered members in the Texas congressional delegation and...

Annie Daniel was a news apps developer at The Texas Tribune from 2014 to 2018, where she where she developed interactives, analyzed datasets and created graphics. She graduated from the University of North...