Governor Doug Ducey’s top two aides, Chief of Staff Daniel Scarpinato and Deputy Chief of Staff Gretchen Conger, announced on Thursday that they will leave the administration to pursue other career interests.
Scarpinato has been named as a partner at Ascent Media, a national advertising and political consulting firm based in Washington, D.C, and Conger will serve as senior advisor to the Sarah Huckabee Sanders campaign.
“Daniel has been a trusted and important part of my team since the beginning,” said Ducey. “His leadership of our team through challenge after challenge has been critical to our success. I am beyond thankful for his dedication and service from our 2014 transition to my re-election, through COVID and the completion of our most successful legislative session to date. While Daniel is moving on, he will remain a close friend and advisor to our team.”
Scarpinato worked with Ducey since he first assumed the governor’s office in 2015 and served as a senior advisor on Ducey’s 2018 reelection campaign, where the governor won more votes than any other in Arizona history.
Conger served in a host of positions before joining the Ducey administration, including executive director of the Arizona Chamber Foundation and as the vice president of Public Policy for the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“Since 2012, Gretchen has gained the admiration and respect of leaders in public service and with business leaders,” said Governor Ducey. “Gretchen has been a critical part of the team that has accomplished some of our most important initiatives and reforms, from the expansion of school choice to universal licensing to historic tax cuts.”
Ducey, who has only one more year to serve as governor, named Daniel Ruiz II his new chief of staff. Ruiz formerly served as the State of Arizona’s chief operating officer.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for the Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Gretchen Conger” by Gretchen Conger. Â Photo “Daniel Scarpinato” by Daniel Scarpinato.
