Two US-based consultancy firms who had played a key role in Barack Obama's presidential campaign last year have agreed to help Indian-American Raja Krishnamoorthi in his bid for Illinois State Comptroller.

A former Deputy State Treasurer, Krishnamoorthi has announced to run for the 2010 Democratic primary for State Comptroller if incumbent Dan Hynes chooses to leave the office he has held since 1999.

Illinois is the home state of US president Barack Obama.

AKPD Message and Media and Hartsad Strategic Research have agreed to campaign for Krishnamoorthi, according to an announcement made on Wednesday.

Formerly headed by White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod, AKPD Message and Media has agreed to provide message and media consulting for his campaign, while Strategic Research, the polling firm that helped Obama win the Iowa caucuses and polled for him in dozens of primary and battleground states, will perform polling and analysis for the campaign.

Both firms had also worked on Obama's 2004 US Senate campaign, in which he won an upset primary bid and a landslide general election victory.

"I'm delighted that these firms, which played such a key role in President Obama's political rise, will be providing me with their assistance in reaching the voters of Illinois," Raja said in a statement.

"With their help, I hope to communicate my heartfelt commitment to our State and my ideas for reforming government and bringing new openness and transparency to its financial dealings," he said.

Earlier, Raja announced that former-FCC Commissioner Newton Minow has agreed to chair his campaign. Now senior counsel at the Sidley Austin law firm in Chicago, Minow has been a lifelong voice for ethics and reform.

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