Jeb Bushs Black backers aid Romney

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Jeb’s black backers aid Romney

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, due in Florida on Tuesday, is reaching out to black movers and shakers to help boost his chances in the Jan. 29 primary.

Former Massachusetts governor Romney today released the names of dozens of black supporters, most of them fellow Republicans, throwing their clout his way.

The list includes several Jeb Bush devotees, including David Griffin, a former Florida Lottery secretary appointed by Bush.

T. Willard Fair, a Miami-Dade County activist whom Bush appointed to the state Board of Education and who remains on the board today, is one of Romney’s state finance chairmen.

Joining him is former Orange County NAACP president Derrick Wallace, a longtime Democrat who switched parties after being courted by Republicans in 2005.

Also supporting Romney, who is vying for conservative voters against former U.S. senator and “Law and Order” celeb Fred Thompson, is Leslie Steele, a former Bush staffer who served in his communications office and also as the press secretary for the Florida Lottery. Romney’s Florida spokeswoman Kristy Campbell also came from Bush’s press shop.

Absent from Romney’s cadre of black supporters is anyone from Palm Beach, St. Lucie or Martin counties, according to the press release.

Romney is a Mormon, also known as the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints. Until 1978, the church prohibited blacks from becoming priests.

Who knew, Jeb has Black backers?