GOP wunderkind Nick Ayers is not running for governor in 2018, according to Greg Bluestein at the AJC. Ayers, who is a top adviser to Vice President Mike Pence and an ally of the Trump administration, generated a good deal of speculation about a potential run earlier this year. Having never held elected office before, he could have possibly filled the Trump-aligned political outsider lane that remains open in the 2018 GOP Republican gubernatorial field.
The 34-year old Ayers’ political resume includes serving on Trump’s presidential transition, helping set up America First Policies (the group that is hitting GOP Sen. Dean Heller for opposing the Senate’s ACA replacement), running the Republican Governors Association, and being instrumental in the surprise success of Sonny Purdue’s 2002 gubernatorial campaign. Point being, regardless of his 2018 decision, expect to hear his name in the news more going forward.