INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Gov.-elect Mike Pence said Wednesday some of Gov. Mitch
Daniels top aides will stay on to help him in the new administration.
Pence announced that Rob Wynkoop will stay on as the head of the Department
of Administration and Mike Alley would continue working to fix the embattled
revenue department. Anita Samuel will be promoted from general counsel at
the state’s personnel department to its secretary.
The three join a handful of top appointments Pence has made in the last few
weeks as he builds his new team. Incoming Office of Management and Budget
Director Chris Atkins joined the group onstage with Pence Wednesday,
although his job was announced last month.
Daniels leaves a deep bench for Indiana’s new Republican governor to tap, to
the extent Pence wants them still running the show and they want a job with
a new boss.
“Our state has made extraordinary progress over the last eight years, and
that progress is a direct result of the integrity and the caliber of the men
and women who have served in this administration at every level,” Pence
said. He added he would release their salaries “at the appropriate time,”
but not immediately.
Pence also has kept a small coterie of longtime supporters around him.
Longtime congressional aide and political adviser Bill Smith told the
Associated Press Tuesday he would stay on with Pence in the governor’s
office as his chief of staff. And campaign field director Chris Crabtree
will shift to the governor’s office as deputy chief of staff, a job formerly
held by Daniels confidant and Republican Party Chairman Eric Holcomb.
Outgoing school superintendent Tony Bennett’s chief of staff, Heather Neal,
and retired lawmaker Jeff Espich will handle legislative affairs for the new
governor. Ice Miller partner Marilee Springer will run Pence’s policy shop.
Pence also announced he’ll do a “thank you” tour of the state Thursday and
Friday with stops in South Bend, Fort Wayne, Evansville and Terre Haute. He
plans to speak to the Indiana Chamber of Commerce Thursday.
Custom Search