New senator announces staff, transition team

U.S. Sen.-elect Ruben Gallego’s incoming Senate team will have a familiar look, with several staff members from his House office moving with him to the upper chamber in January.
Raphael Chavez-Fernandez, Gallego’s chief of staff for the past two years in the U.S. House of Representatives, will hold the same role on the Senate team.
Chavez-Fernandez had been deputy assistant secretary for intergovernmental affairs at the Veterans Administration before working with Gallego, who is a five-term member of the House.
Chavez-Fernandez served as state director for former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., from 2019 to 2021. Chavez-Fernandez holds degrees from Columbia University and Rutgers University. He co-chairs Gallego’s 21-member transition team named last week.
Longtime Democratic operative Roy Herrera is the other co-chair on the bipartisan transition team.
Abigail O’Brien, the deputy campaign manager for Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign in Arizona, will be Gallego’s state director. She was the government relations manager for Mesa and chief of staff for former U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz.
O’Brien began her congressional career with Gallego in 2017. She is a Northern Arizona University graduate.
Jacques Petit, Gallego’s longtime communications director in the House, will hold the same position for Gallego in the Senate.
He was the communications director for the Harris campaign in Arizona. His career began with Giffords, the gun-safety organization founded by former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz. He’s a graduate of Louisiana State University.
Jose Contreras is another member of Gallego’s House staff who is transferring duties to the Senate. He will again serve as director of operations. The Phoenix native began as a staff assistant in Gallego’s House district office. He is an Arizona State University graduate.
Others on the transition team are Joe Clure, executive director of the Arizona Police Association; Dr. Brendan Curley, an oncologist with the Arizona Center for Cancer Care; Kevin Dahl, a member of the Tucson City Council; Laura Dent, the campaign manager for Proposition 139, which enshrined abortion rights in the state’s constitution; Marisol Garcia, president of the Arizona Education Association; Paul Hickman, president and CEO of the Arizona Bankers Association; Holly Irwin, a La Paz County supervisor; Jim McCain, a Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War and son of the late U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.; Jim McLaughlin, president of the UFCW Local 99; Robert Miguel, chairman of the Ak-Chin Indian Community in Maricopa; Alicia Nunez, president and CEO of Chicanos Por La Causa; Nate Rhoton, CEO of one-n-ten; Dawn Schumann, political director of Teamsters Local 104; Victor Smith, CEO of JV Smith Companies; Lynndy Smith, president of the Arizona Defense & Industry Coalition; Julie Spilsbury, Mesa City Council member; Rob Taylor, associate general manager of SRP; Jason Wong, CEO of Asian Corporate and Entrepreneur Leaders; and Corey Woods, Tempe mayor.