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WASHINGTON - Utah billionaire Jon Huntsman Sr. will serve as one of nine national finance co-leaders for Mitt Romney's presidential exploratory committee, the former Massachusetts governor announced Thursday.
Huntsman, a petrochemical magnate and fellow Mormon, has contributed heavily to Romney's coffers in the past. Huntsman joins eight other well-known party fundraisers, including four of President Bush's 2004 "Rangers," a nickname for his top fund- raisers.
"I am proud to have the support of these outstanding leaders," Romney said in a statement Thursday, his last day as governor.
"Together, they represent some of the best of America's entrepreneurial innovation and civic engagement. Their work will help provide the resources needed to continue our discussion with the American people about the solutions to a new generation of challenges."
Huntsman will not be at Romney's kick-off fundraiser Monday in Boston, though his son David Huntsman will be.
One of Huntsman Sr.'s other sons, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., is backing Sen. John McCain's presidential efforts.
Romney's announcement on Thursday was aimed at proving he has a credible team to raise the tens of millions of dollars he will need in the next few months. Ted Welch, one of his picks, is a Tennessee investment banker who led Sen. Lamar Alexander's $20 million fundraising haul in 1996, according to The Hotline news briefing.
The other finance leaders on Romney's team are:
* Christopher Collins, a Bush Ranger and managing member of First Atlantic Capital LLC in Massachusetts.
* Mark Guzzetta, president of Gemstone Development and a close associate of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
* John Miller, founding member of the National Beef Packing Co.
* John Rakolta Jr., chairman and chief officer of Walbridge Aldinger of Michigan, one of the top construction companies in the nation.
* Mel Sembler, former U.S. ambassador to Italy and Australia and chairman of the board of the Sembler Co.
* Tom Tellefsen, president of Tellefsen Investments of California.
* Meg Whitman, president and chief executive officer of eBay.