After losing floor assistant Dave Bellis to the United States Naval Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Fla., earlier this month, Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) has made several changes to his floor staff.

Moving over from Hastert’s personal office, Pete Eskew will replace Bellis as floor assistant. Eskew began as an intern in Hastert’s Capitol office in the summer of 2003. After graduating from the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s in political science, Eskew went on to intern in the Republican Cloakroom before being hired full time as a Hastert staff assistant. He hails from Atlanta.

Also taking up the job of floor assistant this month is Emily Reinertsen. Reinertsen, who started working for Hastert in 1999, served as an assistant in the Speaker’s administrative office and in the floor office before becoming an assistant manager of the Republican Cloakroom. A native of Edina, Minn., Reinertsen graduated from Middlebury College in 1999 and holds a bachelor’s in international politics and economics.

Replacing Reinertsen in the Cloakroom will be Christina Jenckes. A former operations assistant and assistant bill clerk in the Office of the Clerk, Jenckes graduated in 2001 from Bucknell University, where she double majored in political science and English. She calls Wyomissing, Pa., her hometown.

Sunshine State Spinner. Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) recently announced that Ken Lundberg, former communications director for Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.), has been hired as the Senator’s new press secretary.

Lundberg, 36, was a one-time correspondent for the Potomac Radio News before leaving D.C. to be the media relations manager for the Metropolitan King County Council in Seattle. A Quincy, Wash., native, Lundberg graduated in 1990 from Wenatchee Valley College in Wenatchee, Wash. [IMGCAP(1)]

Job Opportunities in the Land of Opportunity. Rep. Marion Berry (D-Ark.) recently promoted one staffer and hired two others in his Capitol Hill office.

Ben Young moves up from staff assistant to legislative correspondent and will handle telecommunications, government reform and housing issues for the Congressman. Prior to joining Berry’s office, Young was the field director for the Jan Judy for Congress campaign in Fayetteville, Ark. He is a 2004 graduate of Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., where he earned a bachelor’s in political science.

After learning the ropes as communications director in the office of Rep. Ben Chandler (D-Ky.), Lillian Pace has been tapped by Berry to head his press shop. Pace, who also served as a legislative assistant for Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.), is a 2002 graduate of Washington and Lee University and holds a bachelor’s in journalism. She is also nearing completion of a master’s in public policy from George Washington University.

Berry’s other recent hire is Jen Waller, who joined the office at the end of last year as the Congressman’s scheduler/executive assistant. Prior to joining Berry’s staff, Waller worked for the Democratic National Committee during the 2004 presidential campaign. The one-time elementary school teacher has also worked for former Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove (D) and for the Southern Governors’ Association. The Clarksdale, Miss., native holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Delta State University.