Marco Rubio hires former Joni Ernst staffer

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has taken on a former aide to Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst with the Iowa caucuses less than a month away.

Politico reported Cameron Sutton, former Iowa state director for Ernst, is to be named co-chairman for Rubio's Iowa operation.

According to Ernst's office, Sutton retired from his role as Iowa state director in November.

"We are thrilled to have him," said state Sen. Jack Whitver, Rubio's Iowa state chairman told Politico.

Sutton was 1 of 7 Iowans to fly to New Jersey in 2011 to persuade New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to run for president. At the time, Christie declined.

Ernst garnered national attention in the 2014 midterm election season when she released an ad comparing castrating hogs on her family's farm in Iowa to "cutting pork" in government. She went on to win her Senate seat with considerable support from the billionaire conservative Koch brothers.

A representative for Americans For Prosperity, the Koch's political action committee, told Politico in November that the brothers are not ruling out spending in the GOP presidential primary.