Lincoln’s new press secretary enjoys dining on the bay

Katie Laning, 25, is Sen. Blanche Lincoln’s (D-Ark.) new press secretary.

Laning, a native of Little Rock, Ark., worked in Lincoln’s office the past three years as a constituent-relations specialist and deputy press secretary. She graduated from the University of Virginia in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in government.

“I interned for Senator Lincoln the summer before my fourth year in college,” Laning said. “I just really enjoyed my experience in her office. I’m from Little Rock, so I just knew what a great individual she is and that this is someone I wanted to work for.”

In her off time, Laning likes to travel to Annapolis, Md., to eat seafood at her favorite restaurant, Jimmy Cantler’s Riverside Inn.

“You get to sit outside on picnic tables, sit right on the bay, and get to watch the boats,” Laning said. “It’s very casual, very fun.”

Laning is especially looking forward to rooting on her younger brother, an amateur golfer, as he is scheduled to play in several tournaments this summer.

Kerry’s new deputy press secretary is his former aide
Liz Richardson, 24, is Sen. John Kerry’s (D-Mass.) new deputy press secretary, but she is certainly no stranger to the Kerry team.

Richardson was Kerry’s press aide during his 2004 presidential campaign. She was also part of Kerry’s grassroots campaigning throughout Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire.

Originally from Watertown, Mass., Richardson graduated in 2004 from Tufts University in Medford, Mass., with a bachelor’s degree in political science.

Richardson says she considers it a great honor to have worked on the campaign and is even more enthused to be working for Kerry once again.

“There were people who traveled all over the country to work with him,” Richardson said. “They worked their tails off to make sure he was elected president. That was something truly special to me.”

After the Kerry campaign, Richardson went to London to raise awareness about flaws in England’s National Health Service as an account executive for Morgan Allen Moore, a company working to bring key health issues into the spotlight.

“We have similar problems in this country in terms of healthcare coverage,” Richardson said. “There are too many people not getting quality coverage in both countries. It’s the problem here, but with a completely different backdrop.”

Though she was eager to get back to the states, she says, she enjoyed her stay in London.

“I worked right down the street from the Parliament,” Richardson said. “It was a beautiful, historic place to work every day.”

In Washington since March, Richardson enjoys running, especially on Arlington, Va., trails.

“I’ve been getting to know the city, and I think the greatest way to know the city is to run all over it,” Richardson said.