Former state Democratic Party executive director Todd Taylor is "former" no more.

Wayne Holland Jr., who in May was picked by state Democratic delegates to be the new party chairman, has hired Taylor for his old post.

Taylor was the longest-serving Democratic party executive in the country when he was let go from the executive director's job in December 2003 by former state chairman Donald Dunn.

Dunn, who that year challenged Taylor's old boss, Meg Holbrook, for the top state party job in Utah, said during his campaign that he would keep Taylor on as executive director, a job Taylor had held for more than a decade.

But Dunn and Taylor both agreed several months after Dunn's election that it was best if Taylor left.

Taylor, 39, has worked since in several politically related jobs, including being the spokesman for House and Senate Democrats during the 2005 Legislature and carrying a few lobbying clients. Taylor was well thought of in political circles; after he left Democratic headquarters, state GOP chairman Joe Cannon tried to find consulting jobs for him.

Taylor was the architect of many Democrat political campaigns in the state, including leading the state party through two painful legislative redistricting efforts in 1991 and 2001, when majority Republicans in the Legislature redrew legislative and congressional boundaries.

Taylor ran Holland's state chairmanship campaign this spring, which saw the labor union leader capture the top party post by a scant 25 votes in the state Democratic Party convention.