Political notes: More staffers for the lieutenant governor, plus a public affairs partnership

Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller (D) will announce Tuesday that she’s filled out her staff with several political and policy veterans. They’ve joined Chief of Staff Pokuaa “PK” Owusu-Acheaw, who took that job at the beginning of the Moore-Miller administration.

Michael (Mike) Thomas will be policy director. A lifelong Marylander, he has spent the last 11 years in various staff roles for U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.). He has also worked for former U.S. Rep. Frank Kratovil (D-Md.).

Madeline (Maddy) Pawlak is Miller’s communications director. She comes to the administration from the Democratic Governors Association, where she was deputy press secretary (Gov. Wes Moore’s current communications director David Turner was the communications director there). She also worked during the 2020 election cycle for President Biden and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), as well as for candidates in Wisconsin, where she attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Sandeep Boppana will be operations director for the lieutenant governor’s office. He is a veteran of the tech sector, with a background in software engineering, world languages, and humanities.

Ajayan (AJ) Williamson will be one of Miller’s special assistants. He worked on the Moore-Miller campaign, where he served as an organizer in Montgomery County during the Democratic primary and general elections. He served in a number of other organizing roles in local and national campaigns. He is a longtime resident of Montgomery County and of Miller’s old legislative district.

Leah Woody, a lifelong Prince Georgian, will be Miller’s other special assistant. Most recently, Leah worked as the lead field organizer in Prince George’s County for Moore’s gubernatorial campaign and for the Maryland Democratic Party’s coordinated campaign. She currently serves on the board of the Young Democrats of Maryland as the chair of the Caucus of Color.

“This dynamic group of immensely talented individuals bring a wide diversity of professional and lived experience to their roles,” Miller said in a statement. “Their service and hard work will be essential in helping Governor Moore and I fulfill our commitment to building a state where no Marylander is left behind.”

Around the Bens

Funk & Bolton, the Baltimore law and lobbying firm, announced Monday that it has launched a public affairs group to offer clients strategic communications services and counsel.

The new practice will include communications, campaign and advocacy capabilities. And Funk & Bolton has signed Ben Smith, Ben Groff and Ashiah Parker, the principals of the campaign consulting and public affairs firm Tidemore, to helm the new entity.

“The ability to offer a consolidated package of services, including expert legal counsel, dynamic government relations and, now, the strategic insight and know-how of public affairs is foundational to the firm’s creative approach,” said Ren Tundermann, Funk & Bolton’s managing shareholder. “We want our clients to rest assured that the breadth of knowledge across our practice groups is equal to their most complex problems.”

Smith said, “There’s profound synergy and efficiency in combining our communications savvy, political advocacy, and policy expertise with Funk & Bolton’s strong history of excellent legal and government relations work.”

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