Snowe spokesman accepts Fidelity Investments post

WASHINGTON – Dave Lackey, one of the top professional spokesmen on Capitol Hill, is calling it quits after more than eight years as director of communications for Sen. Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine.

Lackey has accepted a position as director of public policy with Fidelity Investments in Boston and will move there next month, giving up not only his role in Washington, but his home in nearby Annapolis, Md.

The Cumberland native got his feet wet in politics serving as the Augusta-based speechwriter and then director of communications for Gov. John R. McKernan Jr. McKernan, also a Republican, is married to Snowe.

Lackey then ran Snowe’s media effort in her race for the Senate in 1994 and headed to Washington where he has become a trusted insider not only to Snowe, but also to reporters who needed to understand the nuances of Maine politics.

It is the second loss the delegation has had. Earlier this year, Felicia Knight, the longtime spokeswoman for Sen. Susan M. Collins, R-Maine, took a similar position with the National Endowment for the Arts.

“Dave has been an integral and trusted part of my staff for the past nine years, and has been an excellent spokesman and communications director throughout my tenure in the Senate,” said Snowe in a statement. “As he takes on new challenges in Boston, I wish him all the best – and am grateful for his dedication and service.”

Lackey said what he will miss the most is being in a position where he can help someone who is making a difference.

“Senator Snowe is not a sidelines player, and the thing I will remember the most is being able to watch her go out there day after day thinking of ways to get things done and doing them,” Lackey said. “I’ll remember being a part of that.”

Maine’s two senators have worked together, often very closely, now for more than six years, and to some extent their public images are shaped by their press secretaries or communications directors. The two senators often send out joint news releases.

Elizabeth Wenk, who recently joined the Snowe congressional staff as press secretary, was promoted to assume Lackey’s duties as director of communications. Wenk, a Pennsylvania native, moved over to the job from similar posts with Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del.

Just a week ago, Collins formally filled the vacancy left by Knight’s departure earlier this year, naming Jen Burita, formerly communications director for Rep. Jennifer Dunn, R-Wash., as her director of communications.

States News Service reporter Ray Hafner contributed to this report.

Burita also has served as press secretary to Reps. John Peterson, R-Pa., and Bill Redmond, R-N.M.

Also new on the Collins team is Elissa Canlas, a former evening news anchor and reporter at WMTW (ABC-TV) in Portland, who will be deputy press secretary.