Luis Saenz

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Luis Saenz
Basic facts
Location:	Austin, Texas
Affiliation:	Republican
Education:	St. Mary's University (San Antonio, Texas)
Prior Experience
Chief of staff, Greg Abbott gubernatorial administration, 2017-2022

Luis Saenz is a Republican political advisor in the state of Texas. He was the chief of staff to Gov. Greg Abbott (R), a position he took over in September 2017 after Daniel Hodge left the position to return to the private sector. Saenz served as chief of staff until November 2022.

Career

Early career

Saenz began his career as a policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative policy think tank in Washington, D.C. He then went on to work in federal politics, first as an appointee to the State Department in the administration of George H.W. Bush (R). During his time in Washington, he also worked on the staffs of former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), and former U.S. Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-Texas).

Rick Perry advisor

Saenz worked as an advisor to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) from 2002 to 2007, serving on Perry's campaigns first as political director, in 2002, and then as campaign manager in 2006. During his first years with Perry, Saenz served a number of roles, including as deputy press secretary and appointments deputy. After Perry's re-election, Saenz was appointed as border commerce coordinator and assistant secretary of state, according to Texans for Public Justice.

Consulting

From January 2012 to January 2015, Saenz worked as a lobbyist for McGuireWoods Consulting, starting the organization's branch in Austin after running his own consulting firm since 2007. Saenz left the group in 2015 to work for Abbott, only to return to McGuireWoods in April 2016.

Greg Abbott advisor

From 2015 to March 2016, Saenz served as Abbott's appointments director, where he recruited and appointed officials to work in state government under Abbott. After leaving to rejoin McGuireWoods, Saenz returned to Abbott's administration as chief of staff in September 2017.

Chief of staff

See also: Gubernatorial chiefs of staff

In 2017, Ballotpedia identified Luis Saenz 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 administration. The chief of staff typically has the following responsibilities, according to the National Governors Association (NGA):

• 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."

See also

• Greg Abbott

External links

• Luis Saenz on Twitter