White House staffer Ben Finkenbinder (left) will leave for Chicago to work for President Barack Obama’s campaign. He and fellow press aide Nick Shapiro surfed during the president’s recent vacation to Hawaii.
Resolute now has offices in Chicago, Washington, Detroit and Columbus, Ohio.
New Firm, Big Client
Republican consultants Shawn Reinschmiedt and Dan Comstock recently formed M Street Insight, a bicoastal-based opposition research firm.
The firm has already signed on presidential candidate Jon Huntsman and Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.), RealClearPolitics first reported.
Both consultants worked on Meg Whitman’s California gubernatorial campaign last year, as well as for the Republican National Committee in the 2008 cycle. Reinschmiedt served as RNC research director that cycle, and Comstock provided research for both the RNC and Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) presidential campaign.
Comstock will work from San Diego, and Reinschmiedt will be based in Washington, D.C., RCP reported.
Things Change, People Change
Nashville-based Democratic media firm Fletcher Rowley has undergone some changes this year. Mark Riddle departed, the firm moved to a new office in Nashville, it’s expanding its in-house capabilities, and it hired three new operatives.
Vice President Doug Dodson joined the firm in February. He previously served as political director at Joe Slade White & Co. Communications and was campaign manager for then-Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry’s re-election in 2006.
Jason Russell was brought in as a producer, and Lindsey Herren returned as director of operations and client services.
The firm is currently building a studio in its new space to shoot ads and conduct media training. It’s also building a sound booth and expanding its in-house video editing capabilities.
Another Tark the Shark
With former Chairman Mark Amodei running for Congress, the Nevada Republican Party elected Amy Tarkanian to lead the party through 2012.
Tarkanian, wife of former Senate candidate Danny Tarkanian and daughter-in-law of famed former University of Nevada, Las Vegas, basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, said she isn’t trading on the family name.
“I want people to get to know me as Amy, not just the wife of Danny, although I love him,” Tarkanian said, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Tarkanian was later asked whether she could perform her duties with young children at home. After listing female politicians in the state who have done it, she said, “Would you tell them to stay home?”
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Rep. Bill Cassidy has his blood drawn by Alesha Barbour during a free hepatitis screening in the Rayburn House Office Building hosted by the Congressional Viral Hepatitis Caucus to recognize "National Viral Hepatitis Testing Day."
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