Romney Campaign Press Release - Governor Mitt Romney Announces Washington Statewide Steering Committee Co-Chair

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Boston, MA – Today, Governor Mitt Romney announced the endorsement of Dr. Pedro Celis, Ph.D. as a Co-Chair of Romney for President's Washington Statewide Steering Committee. Celis will play a critical role in building grassroots support for Governor Romney in the state. As the former National Chairman of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, Celis will also help expand the Governor's support in the Hispanic community as a member of Romney for President's National Hispanic Steering Committee.

"I am honored to have the support of Dr. Pedro Celis," said Governor Romney. "Dr. Celis will be instrumental in expanding our grassroots support in Washington and across the nation's Hispanic community. His technological expertise will also be vital in helping our nation remain at the cutting edge of the global market. With his help, we will return our government to the Republican principles of lower taxes, restrained spending and smaller government."

In announcing his support for Governor Romney, Celis said, "After much thought and deliberation, I firmly believe Governor Romney is our best hope to unite the Party's social, fiscal and defense conservatives. As the only presidential candidate to address the Republican National Hispanic Assembly's annual gathering this summer, I also believe his commitment to strengthening our Party's ties with Hispanic voters will help grow our support in this community."

Background On Dr. Pedro Celis, Ph.D.

Pedro Celis Is A Distinguished Engineer With Microsoft Corporation, Which He Joined In 1998. In 2003, Celis was nominated by President Bush to serve on the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC), a group of information infrastructure experts that advise the president on how to maintain U.S. pre-eminence in information technology. Celis was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico and holds an engineering degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology, as well as Master's and Ph.D. degrees in computer science from the University of Waterloo in Canada. He currently holds 15 U.S. patents. In addition to his professional accomplishments, Dr. Celis has served as a board member of the Washington State Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and in 2001 founded the Washington Chapter of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly and became its first chairman. From 2005-2007, he served as National Chairman of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly.