A.G. Gancarski
Two familiar names will have shifting roles in the office of Sen. Marco Rubio, as the Florida Republican prepares for his second term.
Alberto Martinez, who had been chief of staff, will become a senior adviser to the senator.
And Rubio’s 2016 campaign manager, Clint Reed, will take the chief of staff position.
Rubio offered comment on both moves via press release.
“For the past ten years, going back to my time in the state house, Albert has been a trusted and loyal advisor on policy, politics and communications. I am extremely grateful to him for his loyal service and the outstanding job he did managing my Senate office over the past two and a half years, a period where we passed more bills into law than any other during my term,” Rubio said of Martinez.
Rubio also addressed the move of Reed from the campaign side to the policy sphere.
“For over a year, I’ve gotten to know and work closely with Clint on my campaigns, including two in Florida. He’s a superb manager who loves Florida, has earned my trust, and relishes the challenge of solving tough problems,” Rubio said of his new chief of staff. “The next six years will undoubtedly present many challenges but also incredible opportunities to make an even bigger difference in the lives of Floridians and people throughout the country, and I’m excited to be surrounded with a team of devoted professionals who are passionate about public service.”
In 2013, Martinez became the first Cuban-American to serve as a chief of staff in the U.S. Senate and had been a long-serving adviser to Rubio.
Before being chief of staff, he served as deputy chief of staff in the Senate office and was a senior advisor to Rubio’s Reclaim America PAC and the 2012 Romney for President campaign. Previously, Martinez served as communications director for the Republican majority during Rubio’s term as speaker of the Florida House. In 2009, he stepped down as chief of staff to the majority whip in the Florida House to work as a senior adviser to Rubio’s 2010 Senate campaign.
Before his work with Rubio, Martinez served as deputy speechwriter for Governor Jeb Bush and Florida communications director for President George W. Bush’s reelection campaign in 2004.
Reed most recently managed Rubio’s successful U.S. Senate re-election campaign, which earned the most votes of any candidate, at any level, in Florida’s history.
Before that, he managed Rubio’s presidential primary campaigns in Iowa and Florida.
A native of Arkansas, Reed has been a partner at Impact Management Group (IMG), a public affairs firm headquartered in Little Rock with clients that have included federal, state and local political campaigns; the Republican Governors Association; trade associations; and businesses. Earlier in his career, Reed served as Southeast Regional Political Director for the Republican National Committee (RNC) from 2007-2009, a multi-state portfolio that included Florida.
During this period, Reed led the get-out-the-vote program that re-elected Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss in a special election and played a key role in re-electing Republican governors in Mississippi and Louisiana. He has also served as Executive Director of the Republican Party of Arkansas and successfully managed grassroots operations for the 2004 Bush-Cheney re-election in Arkansas.
Reed earned a Bachelor of Arts in history from Lyon College in Batesville, Arkansas, where he has been inducted into the school’s Basketball Hall of Fame. He received his Masters of Public Administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
