Retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Rick Goddard, running for the Republican nomination in Georgia’s 8th district, announced Wednesday that Lonnie Dietz was joining his team as campaign manager.

[IMGCAP(1)]Dietz spent the 2006 cycle helping Van Taylor win the Republican nomination in Texas’ 17th district — although Taylor lost the general election to Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Texas) — and his hiring by Goddard fills a key hole in the Georgia Republican’s campaign infrastructure.

Already on board with Goddard was GOP consultant Tim Baker of the Atlanta-based Capitol Strategy Group. Baker is acting as general consultant, while his partners at CSG, Laura Dunaway and Diana Kincaid, are acting as Goddard’s fundraising consultants. Meanwhile, Katie Miller is Goddard’s finance director.

“We’re getting up and running, people are excited,” Baker said in a telephone interview.

Also advising Goddard’s campaign are a cadre of well-known, Washington, D.C.-

based political consultants, including pollster Glen Bolger of Public Opinion Strategies, media consultant Sonny Scott of Anthem Media and fundraiser Dana Harris of the Bellwether Consulting Group. Harris is handling political action fundraising for Goddard in Washington.

Also on Goddard’s team is direct-mail consultant Jay Williams of the Atlanta-based Stoneridge Group.

If Goddard wins his primary, he’ll face perennial Republican target and incumbent Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Ga.) in the general election.

Hail, Men of Fordham, Hail. Republican consultant Kirk Fordham has indefinitely hung up his Rock Creek Strategies shingle to join the Miami-based Everglades Foundation as CEO.

“We are ecstatic that Fordham’s depth of public policy experience and political skills will be put to work on behalf of the effort to protect and restore one of our nation’s most unique environmental treasures,” Paul Tudor Jones, the foundation’s chairman of the board, said in a statement.

Fordham, a Capitol Hill veteran who most recently served as Rep. Tom Reynolds’ (R-N.Y.) chief of staff before opening up Rock Creek Strategies, has relocated to Miami.

Mason-ry. State Rep. Erik Paulsen (R), running for the open seat in Minnesota’s 3rd district, has hired Anne Mason to serve as his Congressional campaign’s political director.

“Anne brings strong Congressional experience, both in Washington, D.C. and Minnesota,” Paulsen said in a statement.

Mason will oversee Paulsen’s political and communications operations.

Mason previously served as communications director for then-Rep. Mark Kennedy (R-Minn.) and also has logged time in the White House Office of Political Affairs under Republican strategist Ken Mehlman. In the previous cycle, she helped oversee the National Republican Congressional Committee’s independent expenditure program.

Mason currently is the development and communications officer at the Financial Services Volunteer Corps in New York. She begins her work for Paulsen on Monday.

Paulsen is running in the highly competitive race to replace incumbent Rep. Jim Ramstad (R). Ramstad announced he would retire upon the conclusion of his term, although he is in the midst of reconsidering his decision to call it quits.

My Zeldin. Former Army JAG officer Lee Zeldin, looking to win the Republican primary and upset incumbent Rep. Tim Bishop (D) in New York’s 1st district, has hired Marcus Povinelli as his campaign manager.

Povinelli, a veteran of Empire State politics, has logged time for the New York Republican State Committee, former New York Gov. George Pataki (R) and the New York Assembly Republican Conference.

Povinelli said in an interview that Zeldin’s team is still being built. Already on board, however, is fundraiser Cathy Blaney of the New York-based Cathy Blaney and Associates. Blaney in the past has raised money for Pataki and former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato (R-N.Y.).

Brady Newby of HSP Direct in Herndon, Va., is handling Zeldin’s direct-mail needs.

Just Prewett. Cecelia Prewett has joined the American Association for Justice in the capacity of vice president, strategic communications. In this newly created position, Prewett will manage the daily operations of the AAJ’s war room and function as the organization’s chief communications strategist.

Prewett comes to the AAJ from AARP, where she served as a senior spokeswoman. She previously served on Capitol Hill, working in communications for a seven-year period for Democratic Reps. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), Carolyn McCarthy (N.Y.) and Bob Filner (Calif.).

Join The Club. Former Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell (R) has joined the conservative Club for Growth as a member of its board.

“Ken Blackwell is a long-time principled defender of tax payers and a strong proponent of pro-growth, limited-government policies,” Club for Growth President Pat Toomey said in a statement.

Blackwell also recently joined forces with former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas). The Ohio Republican serves as chairman of Coalition for a Conservative Majority, a 501(c)(4) that is, at least initially, being run by DeLay.

In The Bag. Moira Bagley, most recently a copy editor at Roll Call, and occasionally a copy editor for this column, has left the paper and joined the Republican National Committee as associate press secretary.

The Kentucky native’s first day at the RNC was Monday.

Also newly hired at the RNC: Jon Seaton, as the regional political director for the Northwest. Most recently, Seaton served as national field director and Iowa state director for the 2008 presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Before that, Seaton was associate director in the White House Office of Political Affairs.

Seaton also served as Washington state executive director for President Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign.

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