Around the Capitol / On the Move

Theresa Shirley recently joined Rep. James Frank as his new Legislative Director. Previously, she was the Legislative Director for Rep. Stephanie Klick.

Christopher Gruning has recently joined as Legislative Director for Sen. Kelly Hancock. Previously, he was a Senior Policy Advisor for Sen. Lois Kolkhorst.

Margo Cardwell, Director of Policy and Senior Counsel in Speaker Dade Phelan's office, is leaving to return to her legal practice.

Former Sen. Kirk Watson recently won the mayoral race without a runoff to serve a second full term as the Major of Austin.

Robert Howden is the new Senior Advisor and Director of Legislative Affairs in Gov. Greg Abbott's office. He was previously the President of Waterloo Capitol Public Affairs.

Brady Vaughn is the new Chief of Staff for Sen. Charles Schwertner. He was previously the Chief Strategy and Stakeholder Engagement Officer for the Texas Department of Information Resources.

Mo Jenkins will be the Chief of Staff for Rep. Lauren Ashley Simmons after serving as Committee Director for Rep. Abel Herrero.

Katherine Chambers has been promoted to Chief of Staff for Rep. Caroline Harris Davila. Previously, she was her District Director.

Melva Gomez will be joining the Governor's Legislative Affairs team. Previously, she was the Chief of Staff for Rep. Caroline Harris Davila.

Ellie Korth will be the Chief of Staff for incoming freshman, Rep. Jeff Barry.

David Hernandez is returning to the Capitol and will be the new Legislative Director for Rep. Matt Shaheen. Most recently, he worked in various campaigns including, Rep. Kronda Thiemsch, Rep. Ben Bumgarner, and Sen. Tan Parker.

Geoffrey Hovatter has been promoted from Legislative Director to Capitol Director for Rep. Terry Canales.

Incoming freshman, Rep. Daniel Alders, has announced the following staff:

• Daniel Friend will be the Chief of Staff. He was previously a reporter and marketing and media manager at The Texan.
• Victoria Engman will be the Legislative Director. Previously, she was the deputy legislative director for Rep. Giovanni Capriglione.
• Jack Short will be the District Director. Previously, he worked for Rep. Matt Schaefer.
• Robert Bennett will be the Legislative Assistant. He is a recent UT Tyler graduate.

Pat Curry was recently sworn in as state representative. He will complete the term of retired Rep. Doc Anderson.

Rep. Jessica Gonzalez will be the next chair for the Texas House LGBTQ+ Caucus. Rep. Venton Jones will be the next vice chair.

Rep. Ramon Romero has been elected as chair of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus.

Texas Politics Today is produced and sponsored by Arnold Public Affairs, an Austin-based public affairs and lobby firm working with corporate and non-profit organizations. Jim Arnold, Ellen Arnold and Rea Motiwala

Be sure to send us news of departures, promotions, births, marriages and other milestones, so we can share it with the Capitol community!

Information can be sent to jim@arnoldpublicaffairs.com or text at 512-431-5385

Lobby/Association/Other

Alexa Gervasi recently joined Cobb & Johns as their new senior associate. She previously clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals in both the Third and Fifth Circuits.

Jessica Browning recently joined Second Floor Strategies. She was previously with Sen. Charles Schwertner and Sen. Drew Springer in communications roles.

Aaron Kocian recently launched Kocian Consulting. Previously, he was the Transportation Policy Advisor for Lt. Govs. Dan Patrick and David Dewhurst.

David Estrada recently started a new position as Director of External Affairs at the Texas Retailers Association. Previously, he was the Senior Policy Analyst for Sen. Brian Birdwell.

Will Holleman recently joined the Texas Hospital Association as Vice President of Advocacy and Public Policy. He was previously the Senior Director of Government Affairs for Raise Your Hand Texas.

Aaron Saenz is leaving Atmos Energy after 17 years.

Jennifer Banda is the new Executive Director of the Center for Women in Law at UT Austin School of Law. She was previously the Senior Vice President of Advocacy and Public Policy for the Texas Hospital Association.

Rahul Sreenivasan recently started a new position as Director of Government Performance and Fiscal Policy at Texas 2036. He was previously Rep. Armando Walle's Chief of Staff.

Karina Kling is joining Hillco Partners as Communications Director. She was previously the Host and Managing Editor of Capital Tonight for Spectrum News.

Hector Valle has been named the next Director of Governmental Relations for the Texas District and County Attorneys Association. He was previously a partner at Vianovo.

Brianna Menard joined the advocacy team at the Texas Medical Association as director of TEXPAC and political education. She was previously the Executive Director of the Early Childhood Caucus of the Texas House.

Katy Estrada has recently become the new Deputy Director of Governmental Affairs at Linebarger. Previously, she was the Associate Director of Legislative Services and Legislative Consultant for the Texas Association of Counties.

State Agencies

Katy Fallon-Brown recently started a new position as Director at Opioid Abatement Fund Council at the Comptroller of Public Accounts. Previously, she was the manager of Public Safety and Criminal Justice at the Legislative Budget Board.

Wynn Rosser is the new Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's Commissioner. Previously, he was the Managing Director for Policy and Advocacy at Philanthropy Advocates.

After 15 years as head of Department of Public Safety, Director Steve McCraw is retiring. Freeman Martin will be the new head of DPS. Previously, he was a major.

Birthdays

Note: If you'd like your birthday listed and we aren't friends on FB, email me and I'll make sure it's included.

December

1-- Josh Reyna, Mary Bell Love

2 -- Sen. Kelly Hancock, Austin McCarty, Molly Lair Czepiel, Suzanne Hofmann, Chas Semple, Jaime Villarreal, Fmr. Rep. Pete Gallego

3 -- Fmr. Rep. Joe Deshotel, Leigh Anne Lauderdale, Mia Garza McCord, Mike Hailey

4-- Bruce Tomaso, Kellie Duhr, Louri O' Leary

5 -- Rep. Ray Lopez, Anne Mazuca, David Hernandez, Adam Arnwine

6 -- Rep. Alex Dominguez, Manny Gonzalez, Charles Verdict, Rob Eissler, Eric Knustrom, Stephen Chang

7-- Seth Juergens, Helen Soto Knaggs, James LeBas

8 -- Rep. Gina Hinojosa, Fmr. Rep. Jim Murphy, Daniel Becka, Marnie Stewart, Madelyn Fletcher

9 -- Rep. Briscoe Cain, Mary Elizabeth Jackson, Brian Thornton, Scott Sumrow

10 -- Mark Seale, Fmr. Rep. Carter Casteel, Luke Metzger

11 -- Tomas Larralde

12 -- Fmr. Rep. Jim Dunnam, Casey Haney, Polly Ross Hughes

13 -- Rahul Sreenivasan, Kelsey Erickson, William Lutz, Adrian Piloto

14 -- Harold Stone

15 -- Julie Frank, Randy Cubriel, Fmr. Rep. Marsha Farney, Shaleena McGee Keefer, Harrison Keller

16-- Chandler Ludwick

17 -- Jesse Sifuentez, Katie Dickie Stavinoha, Lisa Kaufman, Fmr. Rep. Corbin Van Arsdale

Fmr. Rep. Kent Grusendorf, Joel Resendez, Aimee Lopez

18 -- Anthony Haley, Clyde Alexander

19 -- Fmr. Rep. Eddie Lucio, Vanessa Cortez Tanner

20 -- Fmr. Rep. Art Fierro, Rob Orr, Tom Maynard, Marsha Jones, Pasha Moore, Kate Goodrich

21 -- Rep. Stan Lambert, Dave Nelson, Kandice Karla, Lawrence Collins, Zach Flores, Mary Dale, Gabriel Gabe Sepulveda, Laura Murillo

22 -- Jacob Smith, Stephanie Muth, Shane Birdwell

23 -- Shera Eichler, Ellic Sahualla, Joey Park

24 -- Clayton Stewart, Joe Pojman, Caitlin Dempsey, Ward Wyatt, Caitlin Flanders

25 -- Rep. Jessica Gonzalez, Fmr. Rep. Jason Isaac, Donovon Rodriguez, Morgan Stewart, Brian Francis

26 -- Rep. Kyle Kacal, Paige Bruton Williams

27 -- Rebecca Acuna, Greg Davidson

28 -- Rep. Ken King, Meredith Cooke, David Dunn, Drew DeBerry, Jack Erskine, Andrew Erben

29 -- Rep. Victoria Neave Criado, Matt Lamon, Keith Strama, Lindsey Hughes, Kim Snyder, Laird Doran, Cassidy Zgabay, Theresa Hotze

30 -- Evan Autry, Renzo Soto, Yuniedth Midence Steen, Frank Battle, Mari Villarreal Ruckel

31 -- Jenn Saenz, Machree Garrett Gibson, Pattie Owens Featherston, John Hildreth, Wilson Adams, Wesley Luke

In Our Thoughts

• Condolences to the family friends and former colleagues on the recent passing of former Rep. Parker McCullough

For inquiries regarding sponsorship opportunities for this newsletter, please reach out to Jim Arnold at jim@arnoldpublicaffairs.com.