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Jon Golnik, the Republican running against Congresswoman Niki Tsongas, in the Fifth District has nabbed Beth Lindstrom to run his campaign. Lindstrom was the mastermind behind Scott Brown’s successful run for U.S. Senate last January. Also on his team: Bill Ryan of Haverhill and Ricky Fielding of Lawrence. Here is the release:

A press release from the campaign says “A majority of North Andover’s School Committee members announced this week that they are supporting State Representative Barbara L’Italien (D-Andover) for re-election. While the School Committee does not officially support candidates for office, committee members Stan Limpert, Chris Nobile and Chris Allen each offered their personal endorsement of L’Italien.

“Barbara has been an advocate for public education throughout her entire tenure as our State Representative,” said Limpert. “I am happy to call Barbara a partner in helping improve public schools throughout North Andover and the entire Merrimack Valley.”

Nobile echoed  Limpert’s sentiments.

“Since I was first elected to the School Committee I have worked closely with Barbara in moving North Andover’s public schools forward,” said Nobile. “It’s essential that we have representatives that understand the importance of strong public schools, and Barbara is absolutely that candidate.”

Allen, the Committee’s longest serving member, offered praise and also encouraged voters to join her in supporting L’Italien.

“I have always been a strong supporter of Barbara’s,” said Allen. “Barbara understands how much North Andover depends on state aid for bother general government, and funding our public schools. I hope the voters of Barbara’s district recognize the hard work Barbara has done for our public schools, and they re-elect her so that we can continue to have her strong support in the State House for our communities.

L’Italien welcomed the endorsements of the three North Andover officials.

“It really has been a pleasure to work with all three of these individuals,” said L’Italien. “I’ve been very fortunate to have a close working relationship with each of these School Committee members, and I think that has certainly benefited North Andover.”

“North Andover, like every community in the Merrimack Valley, depends on financial aid from the state to fully fund our public schools,” continued Allen. “Barbara gets it, and she is the only candidate that gets it.”

L’Italien, a State Representative since 2003, represents precincts 7 and 8 in North Andover, in addition to representing portions of Andover, Boxford, Georgetown, Haverhill and Methuen. The election is Tuesday, November 2^nd.

Mitt Romney’s PAC “Free & Strong America” is giving its blessing and money to Republican Jon Golnik, who is running against Congresswoman Niki Tsongas in the Fifth District. Read more: http://tiny.cc/7txh8

Independent gubernatorial candidate Tim Cahill has lost some key campaign staffers in the last 24 hours and fared poorly in a poll by Western New England College.

But when asked by Statehouse News Service whether he plans to stay in the race, Cahill responded with a “Oh God, yea.”

Today’s poll continued to show Cahill in a distant third against Democratic Gov Deval Patrick and Republican Charlie Baker. But the blow to Cahill is 71 percent of likely voters who say they support Cahill said they might change their mind before the Nov. 2 election. In comparison, 37 percent of Baker’s supporters said they might change their mind while 32 percent of Patrick’s support said the same.

The two departures in the Cahill camp were John Weaver, his chief strategist, and campaign manager Adam Meldrum. .