Gail Gitcho signs on with Romney

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has hired Gail Gitcho to serve as the communications director of his presidential exploratory committee, the latest sign that the race for staff talent is heating up.

Gitcho will leave her post as communications director to Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown (R) and re-locate to the Bay State by the end of the month.

The news of her hiring comes just days after Romney announed the formation of his exploratory committee and is evidence that the planning for the former governor’s presidential bid is already considerably advanced.

For Gitcho, it’s something of a homecoming as she worked on Romney’s 2008 presidential campaign — serving as a regional press secretary. After Romney left the race, Gitcho worked as mid-Atlantic communications director for Sen. John McCain’s (Ariz.) presidential bid and then did a stint as Republican National Committee press secretary.

Gitcho is one of many members of Romney’s senior staff heading into the 2012 race that also worked for his first presidential bid. Campaign manager-in-waiting Matt Rhoades served as Romney’s 2008 communications director; Peter Flaherty, Spencer Zwick, Kevin Madden and Eric Fehrnstrom are also all expected to reprise roles as Romney senior strategists in the coming race.

Romney has also worked to expand beyond his 2008 circle, however, signing on Neil Newhouse -- Brown’s pollster — to handle survey research for the campaign and Rich Beeson, a former top aide at the Republican National Committee, to serve as political director.

Gitcho’s hiring comes amid a very busy week on the staffing front; former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, for example, has announced his campaign pollster and political director over the last 48 hours.

The chase for staff talent is one of the early measures of a candidate’s viability. While staff don’t win elections, the ability to attract sought-after operatives speaks to a candidate’s relevance in the nomination fight — particularly among the Washington insider crowd that is paying close attention to the goings-on in the 2012 race at the moment.