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SWEEPER. Andres Ramirez has signed on with NDN, formerly the New Democrat Network. Ramirez will serve as vice president of Hispanic programs for the advocacy group and think tank. Ramirez may have been born in Texas, but he grew up mostly under the bright lights of Las Vegas. “It’s one of the most dynamic places in the country to live in,” he says. “Being able to go to the grocery store at 2 in the morning … it’s those little things that make the quality of life a little better.” Though Ramirez lives in Vegas, he’ll commute to Washington for the job at NDN. Ramirez was an aide for Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., in the 1990s. At the behest of the now-Senate majority leader, Ramirez spent the past couple years working on the Nevada Caucus for the 2008 presidential campaign. “It was by far the most challenging and the most rewarding process I’ve been involved in,” he says. In addition to helping establish caucus rules, the bilingual Ramirez was involved in launching parallel Hispanic programs and a Web site in Spanish. “There isn’t even a Spanish word for caucus,” he says. Ramirez, who also helped out on Reid’s 1998 re-election campaign, worked in former Nevada Democratic Gov. Bob Miller’s Washington office. In the 2006 congressional races, he was deputy national field director for Communities United to Strengthen America, a 501(c) 4 group. A big soccer fan, Ramirez played sweeper in a league and helped the Nevada Democratic Party establish a soccer team.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT. Gibraltar Associates, a strategic communications company, has hired Yier Shi as vice president in its Washington office. Shi formerly worked as a speechwriter at FDA. Most recently, he was senior director in the food and nutrition practice with FD Dittus.

This article appears in the April 19, 2008, edition of National Journal Daily.

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