McConnell Scholar alumnus Scott Jennings serves as Romney's state manager in Ohio

Scott Jennings, a 2000 graduate of the McConnell Scholars Program, now serves as the senior adviser and state manager for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign in Ohio. Romney's campaign made the announcement May 2.

Jennings, a native of Dawson Springs, Ky., is a former Louisville broadcast journalist who later served in the White House Office of Political Affairs. He was special assistant to President George W. Bush and deputy white house political director, serving under Karl Rove. Jennings left the White House in 2007 and returned to Kentucky as a senior strategist at Peritus, a multi-state communications firm.