Inslee to hire ex-Jerry Brown spokesman

A man who helped Democrat Jerry Brown become California's governor in 2010 has been tapped by Democrat Jay Inslee to help him win the Washington governor's race this fall.

Sterling Clifford, who served as Brown's spokesman in the 2010 campaign, is expected to join the Inslee team next month. He is currently working for the firm of Democratic consultant Joe Trippi.

Clifford is married and lives in Seattle. He must be pretty talented. When he departed after the 2010 election, he received a nice send-off on the San Francisco Chronicle Politics blog.

Clifford's arrival is a significant addition for the Inslee campaign because he brings knowledge and experience of delivering a candidate's message in a statewide campaign. In his case, it was in a very big state. Moreover, he's got ties to an influential Democratic consultant in Trippi, who also worked on the Brown campaign but is not part of the Inslee team.

If you're wondering if you've already seen Clifford hanging around Inslee, he's the guy on the left in this picture.