Perdue’s chief of staff leaving (News and Observer)
Zach Ambrose, Gov. Bev Perdue’s chief of staff, is leaving her administration.
Ambrose has worked for Perdue since 2005 when she was lieutenant governor. He ran her gubernatorial campaign, was a key leader of her transition team and has run her office for the first year in which the state grappled with a deep recession.
Perdue spokesman Chrissy Pearson said that Ambrose informed senior staff today that he was planning to leave.
“He has chosen to take some time to spend with his family and refocus on other efforts and wanted us to know sooner rather than later as the year kicks off,” Pearson said.
Ambrose plans to stay on until Perdue replaces him. He wasn’t a very public figure, but Ambrose had a major role in the administration.
“He is unfailingly steady and handles the stresses of this job with extraordinary grace,” Pearson said. “He is that pivot point between the staff and the governor and we will miss him terribly.”
Perdue’s first year in office was a difficult one. The recession sidelined many of her more ambitious campaign promises and her poll numbers were down for most of the year.
Submitted by bniolet on January 21, 2010 – 9:43am.