June 19 - Likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is in the midst of a close battle with U.S. President Barack Obama heading into the November 6 election.
Here are some of the top advisers on the former Massachusetts governor's Boston-based campaign team.
MATT RHOADES - CAMPAIGN MANAGER
A veteran adviser from Romney's 2008 presidential bid, Rhoades also directed the candidate's leadership PAC, Free and Strong America, before joining the campaign.
Rhoades, known in political circles as keeping a low profile, i s reported to be close to Matt Drudge of the Drudge Report website.
Before working with Romney, Rhoades was a White House liaison to the Office of Personnel Management under President George W. Bush. He also worked as deputy head of research for the Republican National Committee and as director of research for Bush's 2004 re-election campaign.
ERIC FEHRNSTROM - SENIOR ADVISER
Romney's top political adviser, Fehrnstrom acts as a mix of spokesman, adviser, and strategist.
He made news in March when he likened Romney's campaign to an Etch A Sketch, suggesting it could reset after the Republican presidential primary season. He is known to be combative and has often engaged Obama campaign senior adviser David Axelrod in public Twitter arguments.
Fehrnstrom worked as a political reporter for the Boston Herald before launching a career as a political adviser in 1994 with a Massachusetts state candidate.
STUART STEVENS - SENIOR STRATEGIST
Stevens is a Republican campaign veteran, having worked with former U.S. Senator Bob Dole in 1996, George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004, and U.S. Senator John McCain in 2007. He left the McCain campaign to join Romney that summer. He is known for working on Romney's "big picture" strategy, not his day-to-day operations.
The Mississippi native has also worked in television and has written five books, including three volumes on travel and one on Bush's 2000 campaign.
ED GILLESPIE - CAMPAIGN ADVISER
Gillespie has long been closely involved with Republican politics in Washington. A counselor to George W. Bush at the end of his presidency, Gillespie has also served as chairman of the Republican National Committee and chairman of the Republican State Leadership Committee. He was also an architect of the Republican "Contract With America" that helped the party sweep congressional elections in 1994.
BETH MYERS - HEAD OF VICE PRESIDENT SEARCH
Tasked with looking for Romney's choice of running mate, Myers has been at the candidate's side since 2002.
She served as Romney's chief of staff when he was governor, and as his campaign manager during the 2008 race. She has been working in politics and campaigns since 1980, when she worked on Ronald Reagan's presidential campaign in Texas. Her boss and mentor was strategist Karl Rove, who later became a top adviser in the George W. Bush White House.
LANHEE CHEN - POLICY DIRECTOR
Before joining the 2012 campaign, Chen served as policy director of Romney's Free and Strong America PAC, and worked on the candidate's 2008 bid.
Chen worked on the domestic policy side of George W. Bush's re-election campaign, and now focuses on advising Romney's policies. Chen has also spoken out against Romney's Republican primary opponents and Obama, engaging with the day-to-day election battle.
ANDREA SAUL - PRESS SECRETARY
Saul is in charge of managing the candidate's relationship with the news media.
A veteran of John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign, she has since worked for other Republicans across the country, including U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah and Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in California.
GLENN HUBBARD - CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISER
Hubbard serves as Romney's chief economic adviser while remaining Dean of the Columbia Business School. He joins fellow academic Harvard professor N. Gregory Mankiw at the top of Romney's economic advisory team.
A chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under George W. Bush and the author of two textbooks, Hubbard has been mentioned as a possible candidate to fill the role of treasury secretary if Romney wins in November.
HAROLD HAMM - ENERGY ADVISER
Hamm serves as Romney's primary contact on energy policy. Hamm, who runs Oklahoma's Continental Resources, is a major name in the American oil industry.
He landed in the 78th spot on Forbes' most recent list of world billionaires and is also a donor to pro-Romney Super PAC Restore Our Future. He gave the group $985,000 in April.
ROBERT BORK - LEGAL ADVISER
Romney in April made Bork chairman of his Justice Advisory Committee, which advises him on legal policy questions. The former solicitor general remains famous for being Ronald Reagan's Supreme Court justice nominee in 1987. Bork's conservative views led Democrats to block his nomination. (Reporting by Gabriel Debenedetti; Editing by Alistair Bell and Doina Chiacu)