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Around the Capitol / On the Move / Campaign Season
The following House members have announced they are running for re-election: Rep. Tony Tinderholt, Rep. Hugh Shine, Rep. Brad Buckley, Rep. Dan Huberty, Rep. Geanie Morrison Rep. Ben Leman, Rep. Ken King, Rep. Rick Miller, Rep. Drew Darby, Rep. Jeff Leach, Rep. Keith Bell, Rep. Oscar Longoria, Rep. Mary Gonzalez, Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, Rep. Bobby Guerra, Rep. James Talarico, Rep. Garnet Coleman, Rep. Jay Dean, Rep. Steve Allison, Rep. Lynn Stucky, Rep. Chris Paddie, Rep. Chris Turner, Rep. Sam Harless, Rep. John Raney
Rep. Jim Murphy was elected Vice Chairman of the House Republican Caucus.
Rep. Dwayne Bohac has announced he will not seek reelection.
Rep. Mike Lang has announced he will not be running for reelection to the Texas House but instead, will be running to become a Hood County Commissioner.
Rep. Celia Israel has been appointed Chair of the Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee.
Rep. James Talarico is joining MAYA Consulting, an Austin-based education consulting firm.
Sen. Jose Rodriguez has announced that he will not seek reelection. Rep. Cesar Blanco has announced he will be running for the open Senate seat.
Sen. Bryan Hughes has been appointed Chair of the Senate State Affairs Committee replacing Sen. Joan Huffman, who will lead the Senate’s Redistricting Committee.
Sen. Nathan Johnson has joined Thompson & Knight LLP in Dallas.
Molly Wilson, who served as LD for Rep. Tom Oliverson in the 86th is now the Chief of Staff for Rep. Ed Thompson.
Madeline White is the new COS for Rep. Vicki Goodwin. Her previous position as LD will be filled by Mike O’Connor.
Travis Griffin, formerly Chief of Staff for Rep. Dwayne Bohac, has joined WPA Intelligence as a client strategist and will be running operations out of the firm’s Austin offices.
Calli Norton, formerly at D.C. digital agency Targeted Victory, has joined Governor Abbott’s team as his Digital Communications Director. (h/t The Quorum Report)
Lobby/Association News
Daniel Gonzalez, longtime internal lobbyist for the Texas Association of Realtors is launching an independent lobby firm. He will be retaining the Realtors as a client.
Chris Masey is now the Executive Director of the Autism Society of Texas. Chris was previously Advocacy Director for the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities.
Jennifer Harris was recently named State Program Director for Texas for Connected Nation, a national 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that works to expand access to and increase the adoption and use of broadband (high-speed internet) and its related technologies for all people.
Ryan Brannan announced his affiliation with the Dallas-based law firm Glast, Phillips & Murray (GPM). Brannan, owner of the Brannan Firm, an Austin-based government relations company, will serve as Of Counsel to GPM and lead the opening of their Austin office.
Jason Damen has been hired as Senior Manager of Government Affairs at Energy Transfer after nearly two decades of work in and around the Texas Capitol. Most recently, Damen spent the last six years working with the government relations team at AEP Texas.
Jess Heck is now Government Relations Manager for RigUp. Heck was previously at Cammack & Strong, P.C. for four years. (h/t the Quorum Report)
CVS Health has hired Courtney Reid as its new Government Relations Director.
Tina Tran has been named the State Director for AARP in Texas. She previously was the group’s lead on outreach and local advocacy operations.
The Associated Builders and Contractors of Texas has chosen Will McAdams as its new President. He replaces Joe Fisher, who’s retiring from the group after 11 years. McAdams previously served as the Business and Regulated Industries Advisor to the Speaker’s office.
Brandon Garcia, former policy staffer for Sen. Kirk Watson, has taken a position as the Director of Outreach and Advocacy for Central Texas at the Texas Charter Schools Association.
Tom Holloway has rejoined Cross Oak Group. He served as the House Calendars Committee Director last session and as COS for Sen. Charles Schwertner.
The Texas School Alliance has announced its first Executive Director, Dr. Curtis Culwell. Formerly of Moak, Casey & Associates, Culwell also served as the Garland ISD superintendent for 14 years.
Senior Regional Vice President Paul Martin will be leaving the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies to serve as Vice President, State Relations for the Reinsurance Association of America starting October 7. (h/t The Quorum Report)
State Agency News
actually at the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners, not the Veterans’ Land Board.
The Texas State Library and Archives Commission named Sarah Swanson as its new General Counsel.
Paul Ballard has retired as the CEO and the CIO of the Texas Treasury Safekeeping Trust Company. Mike Reissig will serve as acting CEO and Ruchit Shah will serve as acting CIO.
Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Dr. Keven Ellis as Chairman of the State Board of Education.
Mariann Morelock has begun her job as the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission’s co-Director of the new Strategic Initiatives and Performance Improvement (SIPI) Office. Morelock serves with co-director Amy Cardona. Nick Raymond has assumed the role of Director of Governmental Relations. (h/t The Quorum Report)
The Sunset Commission has undergone several personnel changes recently. Steven Ogle has been promoted to Assistant Director of Reviews, Kay Hricik to Assistant Director of Operations, and Erick Fajardo to Review Director. New Policy Analysts at The Sunset Commission include:
Megan Maldonado
Jaime Puente
Janelle Roberts
Senaida San Miguel
Alicia Seagraves
Sadie Smeck
Ashley Thomas
(h/t The Quorum Report)
Happy Birthday!
Shout Outs
In Our Thoughts
Contact us at txpoliticstoday@gmail.com or text us at 512-431-5385 to let us know of other moves, birthdays, lobby sign ups, birth announcements, events, and happenings that you and your Capitol colleagues would like to read about.
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