Governor-Elect Bill Ritter announced his picks for chief of staff and two other senior staff positions today. Jim Carpenter, who helped Ken Salazar win his Senate seat, will be on board as Ritter’s chief of staff. Carpenter also served as former Governor Roy Romer’s press secretary, director of communications and chief of staff. Lobbyist Mary Kay Hogan will serve as Ritter’s legislative liaison, and Trey Rogers, the attorney for Ritter’s campaign and transition team, has signed on as chief legal counsel.
The full text of the announcement follows.
RITTER ANNOUNCES FIRST THREE MEMBERS OF NEW ADMINISTRATION
Gov.-elect Bill Ritter today announced the first three senior staff members of his new administration: Jim Carpenter as chief of staff; Mary Kay Hogan as legislative liaison; and Trey Rogers as chief legal counsel.
“I’m pleased that these three extremely talented individuals have agreed to join the new administration,” Ritter said. “We’re putting together a dynamic team that will work tirelessly to fulfill the Colorado Promise and to solve real problems for people and businesses all across Colorado. This trio will form the backbone of an administration that will be committed to making Colorado a leader in education, health care, jobs and renewable energy.”
Carpenter currently serves as the state director for U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, and was the chief of staff at the conclusion of former Gov. Romer’s administration.
“I am honored and gratified that Gov.-elect Ritter has invited me to serve as his chief of staff,” Carpenter said. “I appreciate his confidence and I look forward to doing my part to help fulfill the Colorado Promise.”
Rogers, currently a partner with Rothgerber Johnson and Lyons, served as the Ritter for Governor campaign attorney and is counsel for the transition team. Hogan provided policy and legislative advice to Ritter during the campaign.
Additional biographical information about Carpenter, Hogan and Rogers:
Jim Carpenter: Mr. Carpenter, 46, served as press secretary, director of communications and chief of staff for former Gov. Romer. He also was campaign manager and deputy state director for U.S. Sen. and Rep. Tim Wirth, both in Colorado and in Washington, D.C.
From 1999 to 2004, Carpenter was director of public affairs for National Jewish Medical Center and Research Center. In March 2004, he left National Jewish to manager Ken Salazar’s successful campaign for the U.S. Senate.
A Colorado native who grew up in Granby, Carpenter attended Georgetown University before receiving his undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder. He and his wife, Nancy, have two children: Emma, age 16, and Nicholas, age 11.
Mary Kay Hogan: Ms. Hogan, a native of Lakewood, has been lobbying the Colorado Legislature since 1999. Prior to forming the firm of Aponte Hogan and Busam with fellow lobbyist Ruth Aponte, she served as a staff attorney with the Colorado Legislature’s nonpartisan Office of Legislative Legal Services, where she worked on tax, transportation and land use legislation.
As a lobbyist in private practice, she has represented entities such as The Children’s Hospital of Denver, the Colorado Bar Association, the Transplant Council of the Rockies, publi c school districts in Colorado Springs, and Colorado Counties Inc. During law school, she clerked for the Hon. Judge Gaspar Perricone in the 1st Judicial District.
Ms. Hogan, 36, earned her BA degree from the University of Arizona in 1992, and her law degree from the University of Denver in 1996. She is married to Matthew Hogan, a partner at the law firm of Sherman and Howard and son of former Colorado Lt. Gov. Mark Hogan.
Thomas M. “Trey” Rogers III: Mr. Rogers, 39, a partner with Rothgerber Johnson and Lyons, has been with the law firm since 1997. He also has eight years of experience as a political and nonprofit fundraiser and fundraising consultant in Colorado, Oklahoma and Washington, D.C.
He is admitted to practice in all state courts in Colorado, the U.S. District Court, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Rogers is a graduate of the 2002-03 class of the Denver Metro Chamber Foundation’s Leadership Denver Program. He was named one of the Denver Business Journal’s “40 under 40” for 2006, and he was listed in the 2007 edition of Best Lawyers in America in the Government Relations Law category.
Mr. Rogers earned his BS degree in finance and real estate from the University of Colorado in 1989 and his law degree from George Washington University National Law Center in 1997.
