Lanny Wiles – Gov. Rick Scott’s right-hand-man on the campaign trail – is joining The Advocacy Group at Cardenas Partners lobbying firm headed by former Republican Party of Florida chairman Al Cardenas.

Wiles, who is married to Scott’s campaign manager Susie Wiles, will be “senior counsel” at the lobbying firm, which has offices in Tallahassee, Miami and Washington.

Wiles was a constant presence on Scott’s campaign and in the transition, often whispering into an earpiece to coordinate with Scott’s advance team.

Wiles has a long history of working closely with Republican politicians, beginning with President Reagan’s 1976 presidential bid.
a full range of governmental advocacy services and has built a strong foundation of core budgeting and legislative processing skills that allows successful navigation of issues of interest to their clients.

Wiles will join the firm’s other Tallahassee lobbyists, Slater Bayliss and Stephen Shiver. Bayliss, one of Gov. Jeb Bush’s aides, served as a special advisor on Scott’s inaugural committee. Shiver is a long-time GOP operative with close ties to the Florida legislature.

Gov. Charlie Crist wouldn’t be the political superstar he is today without the state GOP’s support, former Republican Party of Florida Chairman Al Cardenas said.

Cardenas took over as the head of the RPOF shortly after Crist made his first U.S. Senate bid in 1998. Incumbent U.S. Bob Graham trounced Crist in that race. Two years later, Crist ran for education commissioner and won with 54 percent of the vote.

“When he was given an opportunity to rebuild his political career, the party almost single-handedly funded his campaign for commissioner of education and revived his career,” Cardenas said. “He’s done very well on his own efforts but never independent of what the party’s been able to do for him.”

Based on the RPOF’s assistance to Crist in each of his campaigns, Cardenas said, Crist ought to “either stay in the process and try to win the primary or do what Mitt Romney and Ronald Reagan and George Bush and everybody else has done who didn’t win the nomination and support the ticket.”

Florida candidates owe fealty to their parties, Cardenas said.

“There are some states where elected officials do their own thing and the party is not very active and there are others where a majority status has been built on the shoulders of thousands of donors and contributors,” he explained. “We happen to be the type of state where the party literally jump-starts people’s careers. When you live in that environment, you have to have a different loyalty approach to the party.”