David Kustoff, the former U.S. Attorney who along with the local F.B.I. bureau presided over the Operation Clean Sweep and Main Street Sweeper anti-corruption stings, has been named chairman of the gubernatorial campaign of his onetime opposite number and fellow Memphian, District Attorney General Bill Gibbons.
The Gibbons campaign made the announcement in a press release Tuesday. Kustoff, who last year resumed his private law partnership with his father Bernie Kustoff and city councilman Jim Strickland, is a veteran of Republican politics, having served the local GOP as chairman and taken a major role in several political campaigns.
Kustoff made an unsuccessful run of his own in the 2002 Republican primary for Congress in the 7th District, finishing second to the current incumbent, Marsha Blackburn of Brentwood. He also was state chairman for both of George W. Bush’s presidential campaigns and for Lamar Alexander’s successful Senate bid in 2002.
The Gibbons press release also announced that Memphis lawyer John Bobango, a former city councilman, will serve as chairman of the campaign’s advisory committee.
–Jackson Baker