Dole selects entrepreneur to run campaign in N.H.

By Jill Zuckman, Globe Staff, April 15, 1999

As she slowly gears up for a presidential bid, Elizabeth H. Dole tapped a wealthy software entrepreneur yesterday to serve as her New Hampshire chairman.

Jesse Devitte, who heads the Software Association of New Hampshire, will serve as campaign coordinator, chief strategist, and state planner, according to a senior Dole aide. Dole is expected to announce the rest of her New Hampshire team next week.

Devitte, a Hopkinton resident, is a longtime friend of the Doles, though he is not an experienced player in presidential politics. He was the founder of Softdesk, a start-up company that grew from five to 250 employees with revenues of $700 million annually.

The aide, noting that Texas Governor George W. Bush had solicited Devitte's support for his own presidential effort, said, "This is a feather in Elizabeth Dole's cap."

Bush has been making hundreds of phone calls to New Hampshire Republicans since launching his exploratory committee.

Although some supporters say Dole has taken her time in capitalizing on the interest in her candidacy, Steve Duprey, the state's Republican Party chair, said it is not too late for Devitte to put together a strong organization.

"Every time she comes to this state, she draws a crowd of people who are new to politics," Duprey said. "That's the promise and potential of her candidacy. She is attracting people who we have not seen involved in Republican politics before."

Although Bush has not visited New Hampshire since announcing his exploratory committee, he has begun organizing in the state.

The day after Barbara Russell, the party's vice chairwoman, resigned to help Bush last week, she began recruiting people to serve as town coordinators and to hold coffees on his behalf.

Globe correspondent Laura A. Kiernan contributed to this report.