Associated Press
Marco Rubio is announcing several new promotions and staff hires in his Washington, D.C. office.
Lauren Reamy, a member of the Florida Senator’s staff since 2015, has been promoted to Legislative Director. Robert “Bobby” Zarate will lead Rubio’s foreign policy team after joining the staff as a Senior Foreign Policy adviser in December 2016, and Matt Wolking has been promoted to Senior Communications adviser and Press Secretary.
In addition to the promotions, Olivia Perez-Cubas is rejoining the Senate office as Communications Director after previously serving as Press Secretary on the Senate staff, and Wes Brooks is joining as a legislative assistant for energy, environment, agriculture and trade issues.
“I’m grateful for everything Sara Decker, Alex Burgos, and Jamie Fly helped us accomplish in my first term, and for all of their hard work. I wish them the very best in their new endeavors and know they will be very successful,” Rubio said. “I’m proud to welcome the new staff and look forward to the work our new team will be doing to help serve the people of Florida and pursue an important and meaningful legislative agenda in my second term.”
Biographies:
Lauren Reamy — Legislative Director
Reamy has served as Rubio’s deputy legislative director and professional staff member on the Commerce Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard, as well as advising the senator on energy, environment, agriculture and trade issues. Before that, she was director of government affairs at the Motion Picture Association of America, managing a portfolio that included international trade and economic issues. Earlier in her career, she served six years as a professional staff member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, serving under former Chair Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, and former Ranking Members Jeff Sessions of Alabama and Chuck Grassley of Iowa. Reamy is a graduate of the University of Florida and a native of Davie, Florida.
Robert “Bobby” Zarate — Senior Foreign Policy adviser
Zarate previously served as national security adviser to U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois, leading the senator’s efforts to oversee the Menendez-Kirk-Lieberman Iran sanctions laws, and to persuade Congress to appropriate and authorize full funding for IRON DOME and other U.S.-Israel missile defense programs, and to advance the bipartisan Combating BDS Act of 2016. Before the Senate, he served as policy director of the Foreign Policy Initiative (2011-2014); legislative assistant for foreign affairs to U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska (2009-2011), successfully leading Fortenberry’s effort to enact the Help Haitian Adoptees Immediately to Integrate Act of 2010 (Help HAITI Act); legislative fellow on the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade (2009); and research fellow at the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center (2006-2009). Zarate earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Chicago.
Olivia Perez-Cubas — Communications Director
Olivia began her career as a news writer at WSVN, the FOX affiliate in Miami. She first joined Rubio’s Senate office communications team as an intern and quickly became a full-time staffer. She was tapped to move to Rubio’s presidential campaign on Day One, where she served as Media Director, booking Rubio and managing his press schedule. She was Press Secretary for the 2016 re-election campaign and spent much of her time traveling the state with Rubio. Olivia is rejoining the Senate office as Communications Director. She is a graduate of Florida State University and was born and raised in Miami, Florida.
Matt Wolking — Senior Communications adviser and Press Secretary
Wolking has worked in Congress for more than five years, serving in communications roles for U.S. Representative Tim Griffin of Arkansas, Speaker of the House John Boehner of Ohio, and Chair Trey Gowdy of South Carolina at the House Select Committee on Benghazi before joining Rubio’s staff. Earlier in his career, he was Executive Producer of Laura Ingraham’s nationally syndicated political talk radio show. A native of Kentucky and graduate of Patrick Henry College in Virginia, Wolking interned for Tennessee Republican Sen. Fred Thompson’s 2008 presidential campaign and U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina.
Wes Brooks — legislative assistant
Born and raised in Miami, Brooks has handled Florida Congressman Brian Mast’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee portfolio as well as agriculture, Coast Guard, energy, environment, fisheries and water resources issues. He earned a Ph.D. in Ecological Science and a Certificate in Government and Politics from Rutgers University, where he authored 18 peer-reviewed scientific research papers on topics including invasive species, citizen science, science education, environmental economics and tropical dry forest restoration. Brooks also holds bachelor’s degrees in Biology and Political Science from Duke University. He was named an Emerging Public Policy Leader in 2011 by the American Institute of Biological Sciences, and was selected as a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Graduate STEM Fellow in 2013 before joining Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen’s staff in January 2014. Wes is also an alum of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars Foreign Policy Fellowship and Cybersecurity Fellowship programs.
