U.S. Rep. Anthony G. Brown (D-Md.) wasted no time filling the top slot in his Capitol Hill office.
Brown announced Wednesday that Matthew Verghese, his deputy chief of staff and communications director up until now, will become chief of staff. Verghese will replace Maia Hunt Estes, who announced earlier in the week that she was departing for a job with a lobbying firm.
Verghese is a veteran of Maryland politics who previously was deputy chief of staff to Brown when Brown was lieutenant governor under former Gov. Martin J. O’Malley (D).
Brown called Verghese “a natural leader and mentor.”
“For years, I’ve trusted Matt’s advice and guidance in the O’Malley-Brown Administration, on the campaign trail and now in Congress,” Brown said in a statement. “The passion, determination and experience Matt brings to serving the people of Maryland makes him the ideal person to lead my staff as we work to deliver for the people.”
In addition to his work for Brown, Verghese has also served as a senior adviser to U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) during his 2016 campaign and was political and communications director for the Maryland Democratic Party. He also briefly presided over the Maryland Juice political blog, which was launched by now-state Del. David Moon (D-Montgomery).
“I look forward to helping Congressman Brown deliver on his vision for a safer, stronger, more equitable country and thank him for the opportunity to serve the state I love,” Verghese said in a statement.
Josh Kurtz
Founding editor
Founding Editor Josh Kurtz is a veteran chronicler of Maryland politics and government. He began covering the State House in 1995 for The Gazette newspapers, and has been writing about state and local politics ever since. He was an editor at Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper, for eight years, and for eight years was the editor of E&E Daily, which covers energy and environmental policy on Capitol Hill. For 6 1/2 years Kurtz wrote a weekly column on state politics for Center Maryland and has written for several other Maryland publications as well. Kurtz regularly gives speeches and appears on TV and radio shows to discuss Maryland politics.
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