By Laura Olson
Staff Reporter
Capitolwire
HARRISBURG (Dec. 7) – Gov.-elect Tom Corbett named four longtime staff members from the attorney general’s office Tuesday as his first appointments to lead his newly forming administration.
Three of those staffers were key figures in his gubernatorial campaign: Brian Nutt has served as campaign manager and transition chief of staff, Jennifer Branstetter as policy director during the campaign and transition, and Kevin Harley has held the title of spokesman.
Nutt, Branstetter and Harley will take on those same roles in the administration. Annmarie Kaiser will serve as secretary of legislative affairs, a role she also filled in the attorney general’s office before her appointment as acting chief of staff while Nutt was on the campaign trail.
“I’m grateful that such an experienced and trusted group of professionals is joining my administration,” said Corbett in a written statement. “They have worked closely with me on daily basis for years and I look forward to continuing to work with them as we tackle the challenges facing Pennsylvania.”
Tuesday’s appointments of close advisers, while not surprising, follows the approach from past governors, said G. Terry Madonna, political science professor at Franklin & Marshall College.
“It’s essential that the top aides especially have the confidence and trust of the chief executive,” Madonna wrote in an e-mail. “They are also widely respected. These appointments certainly don’t surprise, nor should they.”
Both Nutt, 39, and Harley, 47, have worked with Corbett since his 2004 attorney general’s race. Kaiser, 41, joined the attorney general’s office in 2005, after eight years with the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association
Branstetter, 38, was the director of education and outreach in the attorney general’s office. Prior to that role, she worked for the Pennsylvania Bar Association and as a deputy press secretary to Lt. Gov. Mark Schweiker.
Corbett’s appointments followed the practice of his two elected predecessors.
The core of Gov. Ed Rendell’s initial administration came from those who worked for him when he was mayor of Philadelphia, including his first gubernatorial chief of staff, John Estey, Welfare Secretary Estelle Richman and Policy Secretary Donna Cooper, Conservation and Natural Resource Secretary Michael DiBerardinis, and others.
The top figures in Gov. Tom Ridge’s first campaign and his congressional office also played major roles in his first term, including chief of staff Mark Holman, deputy chief of staff Mark Campbell, Policy Secretary Charles Zogby, and others.
