Murphy, Himes lose key aides

Kaylie Hanson, deputy communications director for U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Greg Vadala, communications director for U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., have left their positions for other jobs on the Capitol Hill.

Kaylie Hanson, deputy communications director for U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., and Greg Vadala, communications director for U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., have left their positions for other jobs on the Capitol Hill.

The 2016 effect is already taking a toll on the staffs of two members of Connecticut’s Washington, D.C., delegation.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, both Democrats, recently lost key parts of their press shop operations. Both left for higher-profile gigs on Capitol Hill, where many political operatives are shuffling places ahead of next year’s presidential election.

Kaylie Hanson, 27, who was Murphy’s spokeswoman and deputy communications director, has signed on as the Northeast regional press secretary for the Democratic National Committee. The Greenwich native previously worked for Connecticut’s senior senator, Richard Blumenthal.

Greg Vadala, 37, who last June joined Himes’ staff as communications director and a senior adviser, has moved over to the Senate to do communications for Ohio Democrat Sherrod Brown. Brown is ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, and, not that it bears repeating, he’s from Ohio. And, as is often said in American politics, “As Ohio goes, so goes the nation.”

Neil Vigdor