COLUMBIA, S.C. - Gov. Mark Sanford is putting an old staff member and friend back on his payroll to push his budget and policy priorities through the Legislature.

Sanford said Monday that Tom Davis, a Beaufort lawyer, will begin working in January as a deputy chief of staff for legislative affairs. Davis has known Sanford since their college days at Furman University in Greenville and returns to pretty much the same job he had when he left the administration in July 2004 to spend more time with his family.

Carl Blackstone now holds the job. Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer says Blackstone will be leaving for a private sector job.

Davis will be paid around $80,000 a year, but a salary hasn't been set, Sawyer said.

When Davis left in 2004, the Legislature was still fuming over Sanford toting a couple of squirming, defecating piglets to the door of the House chambers to protest what he described as pork barrel spending after legislators overrode his vetoes. A couple of months earlier, Sanford was threatening to sue legislators after they overrode another veto.

None of it made Davis' job easy at the time. Davis said he expects there will always be some tension between the Legislature and the governor's office.

Returning presents an opportunity to help Sanford's "agenda to become a reality," Davis said. "It's not an opportunity that comes along every day."

Sanford gave Davis a different type of opportunity after he left: a seat on the South Carolina State Ports Authority Board.

Davis, an advocate of the Ports Authority moving quickly to build a new state port in Jasper County on the Savannah River, says he'll give up that seat next month. While he said state law would allow him to keep that appointed position and remain on Sanford's payroll, Davis said the dual roles would create awkward circumstances when talking with legislators about port issues.

In announcing Davis' return, Sanford said the real estate lawyer "has been a trusted adviser and friend for over 20 years and has always been a central part of our efforts to bring change to South Carolina."

Davis knows intellectually where "Mark Sanford is coming from. It's almost instinctive to me," he said. Returning to do Sanford's bidding in the Legislature is a chance to translate that "into actual legislation. To me, it's pretty exciting and I'm really looking forward to the challenge."

The two have ties dating back to college at Furman, where Davis first saw a Sanford banner in the dining hall as the future governor ran for student body president, Davis said. They grew closer years later when Davis began working as real estate lawyer for Sanford's family. Davis later helped in Sanford's U.S. House races and, along with first lady Jenny Sanford, managed Sanford's 2002 gubernatorial campaign.

Sanford's campaign also had staff news Monday. Jason Miller, a campaign aide to U.S. Sen. George Allen, R-Va., has been hired as Sanford's re-election campaign manager and will work for Jenny Sanford.

"We're really excited about bringing somebody on," she said.