Texas. Paul hired a digital strategist who previously worked on the Senate campaign for Ted Cruz, Vincent Harris, and a campaign manager, Chip Englander, who led businessman Bruce Rauner's successful campaign for governor in Illinois. Longtime Paul advisor Doug Stafford will stay on as a senior political advisor to the Paul campaign. Campaign operations have also begun in many of the early states, with the hiring of Steve Grubbs, a former chairman of the Iowa Republican Party, to run Paul's potential Iowa campaign, Michael Biundo, formerly campaign manager for Rick Santorum's 2012 presidential bid, in New Hampshire, Chris LaCivita, who advised Senator Pat Roberts and Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli in his gubernatorial bid, in South Carolina, and John Yob, a campaign operative, based in Michigan. Through his political action committee, known as Reinventing A New Direction (RAND) PAC, Paul toured many states seen as important in gathering both votes and fundraising dollars. After former governor Mitt Romney announced that he would not seek a third presidential bid, political analyst Mark Halperin made a statement that he thought that Paul was the new frontrunner in the New Hampshire primary if it were to be held then. Polling throughout 2014, both nationally and in statewide contests, had consistently placed Paul among the top tier of candidates potentially seeking the Republican Party's nomination in the 2016 presidential election. Several political analysts have pointed to the established network of supporters that his father, Ron Paul, had garnered through his own attempts at running for President of the United States in the 2008 and 2012 elections. At the same time, other analysts have stated that Ron Paul may be more of a liability, due to his consistent opposition to foreign involvement, which may not appeal to mainstream Republican voters. A Super PAC was formed by Ron Paul's 2012 campaign manager John Tate, known as America's Liberty PAC, which states that it is the only Super PAC officially endorsed by Paul. The group also boasts several staff members from Campaign for Liberty, a group founded in 2008 following the Ron Paul's first unsuccessful attempt at receiving the Republican Party's nomination for president. A second SuperPAC was formed by former FreedomWorks president Matt Kibbe and Young Americans for Liberty president Jeff Frazee. Paul spoke at CPAC 2015 and received a plurality of votes in the straw poll for his third year in a row, with 26%.