When the smoke cleared, there was no fire on this particular rumor…
Over the weekend, I reported on the rumor that Governor Schwarzenegger’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative Affairs, Richard Costigan, was leaving soon to take a
position in the private sector. As I said, I’d received a half a dozen different contacts on this, and so I reservedly shared the rumor with FR readers. Well, this morning I had an opportunity to "ping" that rumor with someone who would definately know if this is true or not. It’s not. While invariably Richard will leave the Governor’s staff at some point (he is in one of those "24/7" positions that will eventually kill you or send you to the funny-farm), for the time being he is staying put.
I can tell you that reaction to rumors of Richard’s leaving evoked a strong response from readers. Richard is seen as an important and valuable GOP player in an office that is becoming more bi-partisan as the weeks go by.
As I said in my earlier post, with Stutzman and Clarey out of the inner-circle, there is even higher value placed by GOPers on the strong conservative principles of Costigan, combined with his close personal relationship with the Governor. There are some newer conservative faces in the mix, with Dan Dunmoyer and Adam Mendelsohn newly hired, and Mindy Fletcher last year. But it will take them all time to build up the relationship that Costigan has developed with Schwarzenegger.
Let me just add that I am quite pleased that Richard is staying put. While for him it may be the ‘job from hell’ (in terms of time commitment and being pulled in 80 directions) — we on the ‘outside’ appreciate knowing he is there.
We will continue to bring you ‘verified rumors’ when they hit the "Rule of 6" (six separate sources) but we will also be quick to let you know if they don’t pan out