Former Rudy Giuliani campaign manager Mike Duhaime will be the new political director for John McCain's campaign, officials announced Sunday.

Duhaime is the first hire by Steve Schmidt since he took over operational control of the campaign last week.

Before working on the former New York City mayor's unsuccessful campaign bid, Duhaime was political director of the Republican National Committee. He also served as a regional political director for the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2004.

Duhaime is a protege of former RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, who developed an elaborate national get-out-the-vote effort for the Bush campaign in 2004.

FOX News' Carl Cameron contributed to this report.