Hard work is paying off for my friend Phillip Stutts. The grassroots “king” of GOP get-out-the-vote efforts has joined the Herald Group as a vice president to establish a grassroots practice at the bipartisan public affairs consulting firm.

I came to know Stutts through my friends Matt Lewis and Erin DeLullo at a fundraiser for Virginia Delegate Jeff Frederick. I later tapped him to write a piece analyzing the GOP’s microtargeting techniques in the wake of the 2006 midterm elections. I figured Stutts was qualified to comment given his role as the national 72-hour/GOTV director for the Republican National Committee and President Bush‚Äôs re-election in 2004.

The new job means his private consulting firm, Phillip Stutts & Co., will be absorbed by the Herald Group. The Politico had this to say: “The partnership is rooted in a shared belief that modern advocacy resembles a political campaign more than an old boys’ club.” Congrats, Phillip!