Today Gov.-elect Bill Ritter announced three top posts in his administration.
Jim Carpenter, who is U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar’s state director and one of the architects of Salazar’s successful 2004 campaign, will be chief of staff.
Carpenter, 46, served as press secretary, director of communications and chief of staff for former Gov. Romer. He also was campaign manager and deputy state director for U.S. Sen. and Rep. Tim Wirth, both in Colorado and in Washington, D.C.
From 1999 to 2004, Carpenter was director of public affairs for National Jewish Medical Center and Research Center. In March 2004, he left National Jewish to manager Ken Salazar’s successful campaign for the U.S. Senate.
Carpenter graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Thomas M. “Trey” Rogers III will be the chief legal counsel.
Rogers, 39, a partner with Rothgerber Johnson and Lyons, has been with the law firm since 1997.
He has eight years of experience as a political and nonprofit fundraiser and fundraising consultant in Colorado, Oklahoma and Washington, D.C.
Rogers earned his bachelor degree in finance and real estate from the University of Colorado in 1989 and his law degree from George Washington University National Law Center in 1997.
Mary Kay Hogan will be Ritter’s legislative liaison.
Hogan, a 36-year-old native of Lakewood, has been lobbying the Colorado Legislature since 1999.
Prior to forming the firm of Aponte Hogan and Busam with fellow lobbyist Ruth Aponte, she served as a staff attorney with the Colorado Legislature’s nonpartisan Office of Legislative Legal Services, where she worked on tax, transportation and land use legislation.
As a lobbyist, she has represented The Children’s Hospital of Denver, the Colorado Bar Association, the Transplant Council of the Rockies, public school districts in Colorado Springs, and Colorado Counties Inc.
Hogan graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona in 1992, and a law degree from the University of Denver in 1996.
Staff writer Mark P. Couch can be reached at 303-954-1794 or mcouch@denverpost.com.
