CQ WEEKLY
March 21, 2005
Page 694
Daschle One of Few From His Senate Office to Land on K Street
By Daphne Retter, CQ Staff
Tom Daschle's announcement last week that he would join former Senate GOP Leader Bob Dole at the law firm of Alston & Bird made him one of the final members of the Daschle Senate operation to decide what to do next - and one of the very few who has landed a K Street job. Most are staying on Capitol Hill. And it appears that the former Democratic leader, who lost his bid for a fourth term last fall, is taking only two of his congressional staff members with him: former PAC director Mindy Myers and scheduler Ryan Rhodes.
Alston & Bird took Daschle on as a rainmaker and a consultant: He has said he's not interested in lobbying, and he is barred by law from doing so for one year. But it looks like he won't be going home to South Dakota - just as his new business associate Dole (who famously said he had "nowhere to go but the White House or home") didn't go back to Kansas after he gave up his Senate seat and then lost his bid for the presidency in 1996.
Maybe Daschle aides just didn't want to go into lobbying: "I don't know how many of them have that as their life's ambition," says former Daschle spokesman Todd Webster. Webster has since started his own communications and public affairs firm. So where have all the staffers gone? Here's a rundown:
Bart Chilton
Old Job: Senior adviser for transportation and agriculture
New Job: Executive assistant, Farm Credit Administration board
Randy DeValk
Old Job: Senior policy adviser on budget and defense
New Job: Senior policy adviser, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Jennifer Duck
Old Job: Policy adviser for judiciary issues
New Job: Judiciary Committee adviser, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
Nancy Erickson
Old Job: Deputy chief of staff
New Job: Executive assistant, Senate sergeant at arms office
Sarah Feinberg
Old Job: Deputy leadership communications director
New Job: Spokeswoman, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
Daniel Franklin
Old Job: Speechwriter
New Job: Consulting editor, Washington Monthly magazine
Patrick Griffin
Old Job: Senior policy adviser for floor strategy
New Job: Counsel at Johnson, Madigan, Peck, Boland Dover & Stewart
Jonathon Lehman
Old Job: Policy adviser on energy and water and agriculture
New Job: Counsel at Fleischman and Walsh
Kate Leone
Old Job: Senior health counsel
New Job: Senior health counsel for Reid
Grant Leslie
Old Job: Policy adviser, agricultural issues
New Job: Policy adviser, Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo.
Jane Loewenson
Old Job: Senior health adviser
New Job: Director of health policy, National Partnership for Women and Families
Chuck Marr
Old Job: Economic policy adviser
New Job: Senior political strategist, Lehman Brothers
Denis McDonough
Old Job: Senior adviser on foreign policy
New Job: Legislative director, Sen. Salazar
Dan Pfeiffer
Old Job: Campaign spokesman
New Job: Communications director, Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind.
Pete Rouse
Old Job: Chief of staff
New Job: Chief of staff, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.
Molly Rowley
Old Job: Speechwriter
New Job: Speechwriter, Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill.
Phil Schiliro
Old Job: Staff director for leadership committees
New Job: Chief of staff, Rep. Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif.
Matt Varilek
Old Job: Policy adviser for economic development
New Job: Economic development director, Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D.
Todd Webster
Old Job: Leadership communications director
New Job: Founder and CEO of communications firm Webster Strategies
Ted Zegers
Old Job: Senior policy adviser for Social Security
New Job: Senior policy adviser, House Ways and Means Committee
Source: CQ Weekly
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