Former Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), who made overhaul of the nation’s election laws a centerpiece of his 22-year House career, is joining the board of the Campaign Legal Center, a campaign finance reform group in Washington, D.C., the organization announced on Monday.

In a statement, Campaign Legal Center President Trevor Potter said Shays’ “passion for public service and dedication to reform, even in the face of tremendous odds, will be valuable assets on the distinguished panel that currently makes up the Legal Center Board.”

After narrowly defending his seat in 2006, Shays — until recently the only Republican House Member from New England — was defeated by investment banker-turned-community-activist Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) in November.

Potter, who practices law at Caplin & Drysdale, was a former Federal Election Commission chairman and a top lawyer to the 2008 presidential campaign of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

McCain, along with Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and former-Rep. Marty Meehan (D-Mass.) all worked with Shays on the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002.

The Campaign Legal Centers’ board includes the American Enterprise Institute’s Norman Ornstein, a contributing writer for Roll Call; Brookings Institution’s Thomas Mann; former FEC Chairman Scott Thomas; and Colby College campaign finance expert Anthony Corrado.

Its policy director, Meredith McGehee, was the former top lobbyist at Common Cause.