Months of speculation that term-limited Lafayette state Sen. Mike Michot may be headed to the Jindal administration is heating up, but Michot isn't talking.
Months of speculation that term-limited Lafayette state Sen. Mike Michot may be headed to the Jindal administration is heating up, but Michot isn't talking.
Michot, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, declined comment this morning.
Gov. Bobby Jindal confirmed Monday what many had been saying all along - that Chief of Staff Timmy Teepell would not return to his position in the administration after the election. Teepell, Jindal's closest adviser who took a leave to work on Jindal's re-election campaign, is joining consulting firm On Message as a partner. The firm, which does work for Jindal, is based in the D.C. area, but Teepell will continue to work out of Baton Rouge.
On election night, Jindal acknowledged just how close he and Teepell are, saying the friendship is second only to the one he shares with his wife, Supriya. Jindal and Teepell, 36, have worked together since Jindal was a congressman.
Also leaving Jindal for his second term is 29-year-old Communications Director Melissa Sellers. She's leaving Dec. 1 and heading to the Dallas Theological Seminary.
These types of administrative changes are not unusual for a second-term governor, and more are expected. Jindal was re-elected Saturday with 66 percent of the vote.
Stephen Waguespack, 37, Jindal's executive counsel, takes over permanently as chief of staff, making $167,000 a year, The Advocate reported. Press Secretary Kyle Plotkin, 29, will replace Sellers and make $90,000 a year.
Plotkin did not immediately respond to an email concerning speculation about a position for Michot in the Jindal administration. Michot owns a Lafayette-based medical equipment company.