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Clark Mercer
Clark Mercer is a political advisor based in Ashland, Virginia. From November 2017 to 2022, he was chief of staff to Virginia Governor Ralph Northam (D).[1][2][3]
Career
Education and early career
Mercer earned a bachelor's degree from Yale University and a Master of Public Policy from George Washington University's Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration. He worked as a research and policy staff member for U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.) from 2009 to 2011. He later worked as a research analyst for the congressional Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2009 to 2011. Mercer also gained political experience as a consultant for LMI Government Consulting and as the political director for the Democratic Party of Virginia. In 2014, Mercer joined the office of Virginia Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam (D) as his chief of staff.[1][2][3]
Ralph Northam chief of staff
In November 2017, Northam announced that Mercer would serve as chief of staff in his gubernatorial administration. Mercer assumed the gubernatorial chief of staff role when Northam was sworn into office on January 13, 2018.[2] He served until Ralph Northam was sworn out in 2022.
Chief of staff
- See also: Gubernatorial chiefs of staff
In 2018, Ballotpedia identified Clark Mercer as a gubernatorial chief of staff. A chief of staff is the lead staff member of an administration and is responsible for implementing the governor's agenda.
The role is both a managerial and advisory position, although specific duties vary by each administration. The chief of staff typically has the following responsibilities, according to the National Governors Association (NGA):[4]
- Control access to the governor and manage the governor's calendar;
- Monitor the flow of information to the governor on policy issues;
- Oversee gubernatorial Cabinet and staff; and
- Manage and communicate the governor's policy agenda to the state legislature and the public.
In terms of policymaking, the NGA notes that a chief of staff is responsible for bringing policy and communications together: "The chief is responsible for overseeing the development of the governor’s policy agenda. The policy director or advisor is typically responsible for shaping the general concepts and specific details of the agenda with input from the communications director, policy staff, and cabinet members. The chief often must take charge and bring the pieces together coherently."[4]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Governor Ralph S. Northam, "Governor's Cabinet," accessed October 4, 2020
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Washington Post, "Gov.-elect Northam makes first cabinet picks," November 16, 2017
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 LinkedIn, "Clark Mercer," accessed February 6, 2024 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "link" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 4.0 4.1 National Governors Association, "The Many Roles of the Governor’s Chief of Staff," accessed April 20, 2021
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