Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) chief of staff David Krone is stepping down although he will still advise Reid, according to a source familiar with the staff shakeup.
The source said Krone will be replaced by Drew Willison, a longtime senior aide to Reid who recently served as Senate Sergeant-at-Arms.
{mosads}The source added that Krone “will have a major role” on Reid’s re-election campaign.
The move dovetails with Reid’s plans to run for re-election in 2016 because Willison oversaw important legislative projects for Nevada while serving as a senior aide on the Environment and Public Works Committee and the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee.
As a senior aide on the EPW panel, Willison helped shutter the massive nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. As Reid’s staff director on the Energy and Water Subcommittee, he directed millions of dollars in federal spending to the state.
Tapping Willison as chief of staff bolsters Reid’s plan to focus on Nevada’s priorities over the next two years, which may help him win re-election to sixth term in 2016.
Krone’s departure was first reported by Politico.
Krone sent a memo to Reid’s staff Tuesday dismissing the news as premature.
“Notwithstanding this article and all of the rumors, I will continue in my role and am not departing,” he wrote.
“Of course, with Senator Reid up for re-election, he and I have had many discussions about his campaign and who may manage it. He and I have discussed me taking over this role and possibly Drew Willison replacing me as chief-of-staff; however, we have not finalized anything in this area,” he added.
Krone said working for Reid for six years has been the highlight of his professional career.
“When the time comes for me to leave this position it will be in accordance with Senator Reid’s timeline and I promise you will know it before it is reported in a newspaper,” he wrote.
Krone has been seen as Reid’s closest adviser for years, and he made headlines in November when he criticized the White House and President Obama in an interview with The Washington Post.
The interview was published on Election Night, as Senate Democrats lost nine seats and their majority.
“The president’s approval rating is barely 40 percent,” Krone told Post reporters. “What else more is there to say? … He wasn’t going to play well in North Carolina or Iowa or New Hampshire. I’m sorry. It doesn’t mean that the message was bad, but sometimes the messenger isn’t good.”
–This report was updated on Jan. 8 at 6:22 a.m.