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Hoosier Handover

The Bush administration has snagged Indiana Rep. Mark Souder’s (R) former chief of staff, Angela Flood, who now serves as special assistant to the president and deputy director of political affairs.

In her nearly decade-long run as a Souder staffer, Flood was also press secretary and deputy chief of staff to the Congressman.

Prior to arriving on the House side, Flood was a legislative assistant to then-Sen. Dan Coats (R-Ind.).

Stepping into Flood’s shoes is Renee Howell, who previously was legislative director.

Howell, who holds a bachelor’s in psychology and biology from the University of Colorado at Boulder, earlier worked on the legislative staff of the Resources Committee, as director of federal affairs for a law and lobbying firm in Boston and as legislative assistant for Rep. Scott McInnis (R-Colo.).

Finally, Erika Lestelle Heikkila has left the office of Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.), where she was legislative assistant, to assume the mantle of legislative director.

The Seattle Pacific University graduate has also worked as legislative assistant for then-Rep. Bob Schaffer (R-Colo.) and as an education policy analyst for the Family Research Council.

Midwestern Maven. Deputy Chief of Staff Dana Johnson, a longtime aide to Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.), is departing the Empire State Congressman’s office after a half-dozen years of service.

The Capitol Hill veteran has been tapped by Florida Rep. Ric Keller (R) to be his chief of staff.

During her tenure with the McHugh team, Johnson also served as press secretary and ran the Congressman’s campaign operation. As head of McHugh’s redistricting planning efforts, Johnson was influential in helping him retain his North Country-based district.

Her previous Hill experience includes stints as an aide to then-Rep. Bill Martini (R-N.J.) and then-Sen. John Danforth (R-Mo.) and as deputy press secretary for the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.

The 34-year-old Midwest native — reared in South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa — holds a 1993 bachelor’s from Iowa State University.

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