Gov. Bobby Jindal may have been re-elected over the weekend, but some of his administration will not be present for his second term.
Timmy Teepell, Jindal’s chief of staff and political strategist, and Melissa Sellers, Jindal’s communications director, are leaving his campaign, The Associated Press reported on Monday.
Teepell is a long-time Jindal strategist who led Jindal through two Congressional elections and both gubernatorial elections. The Associated Press reported that Teepell will join OnMessage Inc., a political consulting firm in Virginia, as a partner.
But this doesn’t necessarily mean Teepell’s advising for the Jindal administration is finished — OnMessage worked on all of Jindal’s campaigns, the report stated.
Sellers is traveling a different route, The Associated Press said, as she leaves Jindal’s communications office for the Dallas Theological Seminary on Dec. 1.
The governor’s chief of staff will now be Stephen Waguespack, who has been Jindal’s acting executive counsel. Waguespack has held the title of Jindal’s interim chief of staff since Teepell started working on the governor’s re-election campaign.
Kyle Plotkin, Jindal’s press secretary, will assume the role of communications director, The Associated Press reported.
Jindal has not yet announced who he will back as House speaker and Senate president for January’s term, but The Associated Press reported he is “talking with legislators” about it and his recent overwhelming victory for re-election.
“The reality is I think people are generally pleased with the direction the state’s going,” Jindal told The Associated Press.
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Contact Andrea Gallo at [email protected]
Jindal staff to change for new term
October 24, 2011