Lofgren Hires Communications Director

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) has tapped Kyra Jennings, 24, as her new communications director. In this role, Jennings will not only draft statements and handle press inquiries for the Congresswoman, but also coordinate the press strategy for the Democratic Congressional Delegation, which Lofgren chairs.
Jennings previously served as deputy press secretary and as a press assistant for the Democratic Leadership Council and the Progressive Policy Institute for nearly two years. She has also served as a press aide for Sen. Joe Lieberman’s (D-Conn.) 2004 presidential campaign. [IMGCAP(1)]
Lofgren has also hired a new senior counsel, 31-year-old Praveen Goyal, who will busy himself advising the Congresswoman on technology and telecommunications policy issues.
This position will be Goyal’s first on Capitol Hill. Previously, he worked at Covad Communications, serving as senior counsel for government and regulatory affairs from 2002 to 2004 and as assistant general counsel from 2004 to 2005. From 1999 to 2002, Goyal was an attorney adviser for the Wireline Competition Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission.
A 2003 graduate of Duke University, Jennings earned her degree in political science. She hails from Tallahassee, Fla. Goyal, a native of Queens, N.Y., earned his bachelor’s in 1995 from Yale and his J.D. in 1998 from Harvard.
Hispanic Republican Group Hires Diaz-Balart Aide. After two years on the staff of Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), Bettina Inclan has accepted an offer from the Republican National Hispanic Assembly to serve as its executive director.
Pedro Celis, the assembly’s chairman, said he “looks forward to working closely with [her] as the organization continues to expand its national reach by bringing more Hispanics into the political process and making them aware of the pro-Hispanic policies of the Republican Party.”
“I am very sorry Bettina Inclan is leaving my office, but I am equally pleased that she will now be in a key position to help Republican candidates successfully communicate with the growing U.S. Hispanic community,” Diaz-Balart said in a statement.
As a legislative aide to Diaz-Balart, Inclan analyzed legislation concerning education, housing, and family and welfare issues. She also managed relations with national and Miami-based journalists as Diaz-Balart’s deputy press secretary.
Inclan has worked on a variety of local and national political campaigns, and in 2004 she helped coordinate Election Day strategy for the Bush-Cheney campaign team. In 2003, Inclan was a member of the government relations team for Florida International University. Before that, she worked for an international leadership skills and business development firm.
“Bettina is a hard worker who combines brilliance with tact, and possesses an impressive political instinct. I know that she will succeed in all her future endeavors and wish her all the best,” Diaz-Balart said.