It seems Ogilvy PR should be thanking California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s administration for mismanagement. It helped Ogilvy pick up a $9 million contract with the California High-Speed Rail Authority. The bidding process for the contract was re-opened after Mercury Public Affairs – who was about to win the account – was deemed to have too many close ties to the Schwarzenegger administration. Government board members called the original bidding process, “insufficient.”

“Under a new bidding process, a staff selection panel that included three representatives from outside transit agencies chose Ogilvy over six other applicants. Mercury did not rebid, saying it lacked confidence in the new process,” reports the Fresno Bee. O’Dwyer’s says Ogilvy beat out Porter Novelli for the contract.