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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. James Frank, Rep. Dan Flynn, 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. Sergio Munoz
Sen. Jane Nelson has announced she is running for re-election.
Former House Speaker Joe Straus is set to help lead a steering committee that aims to improve early childhood education for students in San Antonio. (h/t The Blast)
The Texas Public Policy Foundation has a new board chairman. Tim Lyles has been appointed to the post, replacing longtime chairwoman Wendy Lee Gramm. (h/t The Blast)
Rep. Mike Lang who had announced he was not running for reelection has now decided he will run again.
Fmr. Rep. Mike Schofield is running for his old seat in the Texas House. The seat is currently held by Rep. Gina Calanni.
Sean Opperman is moving from the Senate State Affairs Committee where he was Committee Director to the Redistricting and Mass Violence Prevention & Community Safety committees and will also serve as General Counsel to Sen. Joan Huffman.
Rep. John Cyrier’s office has had a few staff changes. Jacob Reagan has been promoted to director of the capitol office, while Susanna Feather, formerly in Rep. Chris Paddie’s office, has joined the office to oversee legislation and district services.
Drew Tedford has moved over from Senator Hughes’ Capitol office to be the Senate State Affairs Committee Director.
Patricia Guillermo is the new communications director for Sen. Eddie Lucio. She previously had her own consulting firm in Brownsville.
Elijah J. Williams is leaving his role as Committee Director for the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence. He’s moving back to Houston to take on the role of Executive Director of the Energy Corridor District. (h/t The Quorum Report)
Jim Cosgrove is the new Chief of Staff for Rep. Dwayne Bohac.
Former Gov. and current US Secretary of Energy, Rick Perry, has announced he will resign his post before the end of the year.
John Colyandro, Sr. Advisor and Policy Director for Gov. Greg Abbott is leaving that position, along with Policy Advisor Julie Frank, to begin a new undisclosed venture. (h/t the Quorum Report)
Lobby/Association News
Jason Damen has joined the energy company Energy Transfer as senior manager of government affairs. Damen previously worked with the government relations team at AEP Texas. Before that, he worked for then-Gov. Rick Perry. (h/t The Blast)
The Texas Hospital Association has chosen Carrie Williams as their new vice president for strategic communications. Williams was the chief press officer and the interim communications director at Texas Health and Human Services Commission. (h/t The Quorum Report)
Alison Mohr Boleware has been named Government Relations Director of the Texas Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. She most recently worked as a Health Policy Analyst in the Governmental Affairs Department of the Texas Medical Association.
Garry Merritt has been named CEO of Great Springs Project, a non-profit doing land and water conservation projects between Austin and San Antonio. Merritt was previously General Counsel and Legislative Director for Texas Association of Counties. (h/t The Quorum Report)
Texas Values has hired Nicole Hudgens as their new Director of Policy.
Julie Davis, formerly a staff attorney at the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, has been named General Counsel and Director of Government Affairs at the Texas Nurses Association.
Jennifer Hackney-Szimanski has been named the Public Affairs Coordinator for CLEAT. She previously served 15 years in law enforcement. (h/t The Quorum Report)
Nelda Hunter, House Appropriations Committee Director and former Chief of Staff for former Rep. John Zerwas, is leaving the Capitol to join forces with Ursula Parks and Jesse Ancira to provide budget and policy consulting and advisory services.
Paula Barnett, BP’s senior director of government affairs for Texas, has decided to retire after 20 years.
Raman Sandhu has started Seeds for Change a non-profit consulting firm. She previously worked for Austin Pets Alive and HHSC as a contracts manager.
State Agency News
Brian Mitchell, most recently Legislative Director for Rep. Dennis Paul has begun a new position as a Government Relations Specialist with the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles.
Kelvey Oeser is the new Deputy Commissioner of Educator Support at the Texas Education Agency. Oeser was most recently with an organization called Leading Educators.
Shelly Botkin has been reappointed to the Public Utility Commission of Texas by Gov. Greg Abbott.
State Board of Education Chairwoman Donna Bahorich has announced she will not seek reelection.
Jamie Masters, formerly Chief of Health Services and Chief of Operations for Jackson County, Missouri, has been appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott to lead the Department of Family and Protective Services.
Melissa Nemecek, former COS to Rep John Cyrier has taken a position at the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.
HHSC Executive Commissioner Dr. Courtney Phillips has announced new additions to her leadership team. Dee Adams Budgewater, who has served as deputy associate commissioner for Medicaid and Chip Services’ Office of Policy and Program will now be the Deputy Executive Director of Health, Developmental and Independent Services. Rich Parsons will be the Director of Communications beginning Nov. 4 and Christine Mann is the new Chief Press Officer.
Shout Outs
Congratulations to Ryan Alter and his wife Rita on the birth of their daughter, Aurora Jade!
Congratulations to Pedernales Electric Cooperative CEO Julie C. Parsley who was named Austin Business Journal’s 2019 Best CEO in the nonprofit category.
Congratulations to Braden Deckard on his recent nuptials!
Congratulations to Kelsey Erickson, general counsel to Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, and Katy Aldredge, Capitol Director for Rep. Giovanni Capriglione, R-Southlake, for receiving the James Madison Award presented by the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.
Happy Birthday!
Oct 19 Gaylord Hughey
Oct 20 Michelle Apodaca. Steve Kester, Chris Currens
Oct 21 Patricia Vojack, Hank Clements
Oct 22 Joey Parr, Hon. Tom Phillips
Oct 23 Chris Hosek
Oct 24 Luke Legate, Allison Griffin, Chris Wilson
Oct 25 Rep. Donna Howard
Oct 26 Ana DeFrates
Oct 27 Rep. Richard Raymond, Rep. Ryan Guillen, Leo Aguirre
Oct 30 Hon. Bob Pemberton
Oct 31 Fmr. Sen. Kip Averitt, Jamie Dudensing
Nov 2 Fmr. Rep. Toby Goodman
Nov 3 Brigette Dechant, Jim Oberwetter
Nov 4 Jeff Carlson, David Reynolds
Nov 5 Stephanie Matthews, Keats Norfleet
Nov 8 David Bales, Fmr. Rep. Paul Workman
Nov 9 Susan Nold, Kathy Grant
Nov 12 Jay McGuire, James Gray
Nov 13 Jonathan Sierra-Ortega
Nov 15 Luis Saenz, Hon. Jerry Patterson
Nov 16 Sushma Jasti Smith, Fmr. Rep. Jessica Farrar
In Our Thoughts
Our thoughts for a speedy recovery are with Sen. Borris Miles who had a kidney transplant last weekend.
Our condolences to Steve Bickerstaff’s family and friends on his recent passing. Bickerstaff was an election law expert and served as the parliamentarian for the Texas Senate from 1974-76.
Our thoughts go out to the family and friends of Eric Sandberg on his recent passing. Sandberg led the Texas Bankers Association from 2009 to 2018.
Get to Know Your Colleagues
Judd Messer
Chief of Staff, Rep. Trent Ashby
How long have you been around the Capitol? I started working at the Capitol in 2014. I’ve worked for Rep. Travis Clardy, former Rep. Wayne Smith and currently for Rep. Trent Ashby.
What did you do before you came to the Capitol? I worked for four years for UT baseball as Special Assistant to former coach Augie Garrido. I ran the kids baseball camps, produced scouting reports and escorted families and recruits when they came to the campus.
Where did you grow up? Belton, TX
Little known facts? I was editor of my high school year book, was a sports photographer
at UTSA for a year and then started photographing wildlife. I still do photography and I published a coffee table book of my wildlife photographs.
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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