For his re-election bid, Gov. Bobby Jindal has tapped into an extensive network of Republican fundraising and consulting firms known for their work for GOP candidates and causes around the country.Jindal is seeking a second term as governor, but he’s also assembled the type of campaign organization and connections that reach far beyond his home state — and that could help launch future political campaigns on a national stage.An Associated Press review of the Jindal campaign’s most recent finance report shows nearly half its spending in 2009 — at least $431,000 — paid for the web of out-of-state consultants, strategists, direct mail companies and fundraising coordinators. Jindal’s campaign spent $911,000 in 2009, two years before the election.The companies and fundraisers hired, in many instances, are prominent in national Republican politics, linked to an array of high-profile candidates, conservative groups and party leaders. They’ve done work for former President George W. Bush, former GOP presidential candidate John McCain, the Republican National Committee, conservative political action committees and Republican governors, senators and congressmen in dozens of states.The governor’s office directed all questions about Jindal’s campaign spending to the state Republican Party and its spokesman, Aaron Baer, who is familiar with the finance report. Baer said the spending wasn’t designed to organize anything other than Jindal’s 2011 re-election bid.”The governor’s principal purpose for everything in this campaign is to raise money for his re-election so he can continue to help Louisiana,” Baer said Tuesday. “The governor wants to use the best folks that are available and want to help out.”Baer said most of the money spent in the campaign was directed to fundraising efforts orchestrated by campaign fundraiser Allee Bautsch, whose company was paid $85,000 last year to organize a prodigious, multi-state fundraising effort that has brought in millions. The campaign has more than $7 million on hand, and Jindal has no announced opponent for the 2011 race.Among the biggest spending, the campaign paid more than $97,000 last year to Olsen & Shuvalov, a Texas-based company that does direct mail fundraising for Republican political campaigns and causes. Another $70,000 was paid to Advanced Mailing Services LLC, a Virginia-based firm that does similar work.Former Bush fundraiser and former McCain campaign finance director Mary Kate Johnson, of Maryland, received $52,000 for her fundraising work for the Jindal campaign last year, according to the finance report.Baer said fundraising consultants in other states, like Johnson, help choose vendors and locations and help contact potential donors.The governor has crisscrossed the nation to raise campaign cash, visiting at least a dozen states last year for fundraisers — some of those states several times — as he capitalizes on his national profile and on speculation that he may make a White House bid in the coming years. But Jindal insists he’s only running for re-election and has no political plans beyond that.Meanwhile, Jindal’s campaign spent more than $80,000 last year for the services of OnMessage Inc., a consulting firm that does strategy, research and media for candidates. The company has done ads in recent campaigns for the National Rifle Association and the Republican Governors Association.Its co-founders led the Republican National Committee’s 2004 work to get President Bush re-elected. Jindal has used OnMessage in campaigns since his first bid for office in 2003.Asked how firms are chosen and hired, Baer said Bautsch coordinates the fundraising decisions. Beyond that, Baer said, many other spending decisions are handled by Jindal’s chief of staff, Timmy Teepell.For “the global big picture strategy, Timmy’s involved,” Baer said. “But he’s not involved in the day-to-day tasks.”Teepell didn’t receive any salary payments from the campaign in 2009, according to the finance report.Attempts to reach Bautsch were unsuccessful, and Baer said she wasn’t available to discuss the campaign. The governor’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request Tuesday to speak to Teepell about his role in the campaign.—-Contact the Daily Reveille’s news staff at [email protected]