CNN

Patrick’s campaign will again be led by David Plouffe.

(CNN) - David Plouffe, who steered President Obama's 2008 White House bid, will serve as campaign manager for the re-election bid of presidential pal Deval Patrick, the Boston Globe reported Friday.

Plouffe and senior presidential advisor David Axelrod helped lead Patrick's first Massachusetts gubernatorial campaign to victory in 2006, using themes that proved remarkably similar to those used in Obama's presidential effort.

Patrick - whose poll numbers have taken a hit in the face of the state's budget problems - does not currently face any major challenger from either party.