State Treasurer Sarah Steelman announced this morning that she has added “prominent Republican consultant James Harris as a political advisor” to her campaign for governor.

Harris had been a key operative for Gov. Matt Blunt, first with his campaign and later in his official office.

 Harris has been tied to several of the governor’s more controversial activities, including Blunt’s privatizing of the state’s fee office branches.  Early in the administration, Harris also oversaw many of the governor’s appointments, including who got awarded those fee-office licenses. (Harris’ grandmother, for one.) 

UPDATE: And today, Harris sought to renew his ties to some of those fee-office operators by sending them an email that highlighted a recent KCStar blog about Steelman’s GOP rival, U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof of Columbia, Mo., who has proposed changes in how fee offices are awarded.

The email begins:

“Friends -

“Please do NOT forward. I think Hulshof’s continual flip flop demonstrates that he has become a DC politician and unable to be a conservative agent for change.

“Here is a quote from Hulshof’s top person regarding fee offices. ‘Under a Hulshof administration, zero consideration will be given to political support,’ (Scott) Baker said. Hulshof is opening himself up for Democrat attacks. He should be talking about tax cuts, social conservative issues or innovative ways to make government more efficient, not this.

Hope all is well.”

The email’s apparent unspoken message: Steelman will be more sympathetic to the political ties of fee-office operators, so donate to her campaign instead. Hulshof has received about $30,000 from various fee-office operators, prior to his proposed changes.

(Back to original post) Harris’ hiring signals a split among the GOP operatives tied to Blunt, since several — including John Hancock — are working for Hulshof.

But there’s been talk for months that Hulshof wasn’t keen on adding Harris to his operation.

In her release, Steelman “praised Harris’s success as a campaign operative and grassroots strategist saying Harris would ‘bring the kind of knowledge, experience and strategic contacts that will help Sarah Steelman get her message to hard working Missourians all across the state.’ 

Here’s more:

“Harris cited Steelman’s commitment to conservative values as reasons for signing with her campaign.  According to Harris, ‘Treasurer Steelman is ideally positioned to continue Governor Blunt’s legacy of job creation, respect for life and traditional marriage, and a commitment to main street values.

” ‘She is a dedicated social conservative who understands that strong families are the backbone of Missouri as well as a strong fiscal conservative who believes in economic freedom as the foundation of prosperity.  Sarah will do more than any other candidate in the field to unite Missourians from all backgrounds and regions of the state.  We are entering a challenging time for our economy, and will be in great need of leaders who will live by Alexander Hamilton’s maxim that ‘power over a man’s subsistence amounts to a power over his will.’

” ‘I am confident Treasurer Steelman will ensure taxes on Missourians stay low because she recognizes that important financial decisions should be made by our families and not by bureaucrats in Jefferson City.”

“The Steelman campaign cited Harris’s experience winning contentious primaries and his experience as one of Governor Matt Blunt’s top campaign operative as reasons for bringing Harris to the team.  According to campaign spokesperson Doug Gaston, ‘James did a tremendous job of turning out voters for Matt Blunt in 2004, and had put together an impressive operation for Blunt’s re-election campaign.  We look forward to his leadership.’ ”