Georgia Sen. Zell Miller’s (D) longtime communications director and press secretary for his 2000 Senate race, Joan Kirchner has become his chief of staff.

The former Associated Press journalist, who covered Georgia Legislature and politics in Atlanta for nine years, has also worked for The Augusta Chronicle and Morris News Service. She is an alumna of the University of South Carolina.

Kirchner steps in for outgoing Chief of Staff Alex Albert, who has departed for a post as managing director of government affairs at the law firm McKenna Long & Aldridge.

After a year and a half in the office of Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-Tenn.), Anthony Coley returns to the Miller operation as communications director. He earlier worked as Miller’s deputy press secretary in 2001 and served a stint as national field communications coordinator for then-Vice President Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign. He is an alumnus of Atlanta’s Morehouse College.

Miller’s Agriculture legislative assistant, West Higginbothom, has moved over to the Senate Agriculture Committee as professional staff.

The former legislative correspondent

for Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) is a graduate of the University of Arkansas.

Veteran Legislative Correspondent Merritt Myers takes over Higginbothom’s mantle.

Hailing from Albany, Ga., Myers attended Valdosta State University.

Old Dominion Darling. After three months juggling a trio of internships for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), the House Republican Conference and Empower America, Larissa Pennington has joined the Conference as staff assistant.

In her new post, the 23-year-old Pennington deals with policy and coalitions, as well as committee relations for the Conference.

A Virginia Beach, Va., native, Pennington holds a bachelor’s in political science with an emphasis on pre-law from Tennessee’s Carson Newman College.