FLORIDA FROLIC. Eric Eikenberg, a former top aide to Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, is joining the Tallahassee office of Holland & Knight LLP. Eikenberg started in politics in 1998 managing the unsuccessful state House campaign for now-Sen. George LeMieux, R-Fla., then he helped former Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fla., win a tight race in 2000 against state Rep. Elaine Bloom. The 537-vote win was Shaw's narrowest margin of victory in 13 congressional elections, Eikenberg recalled, adding that Democrats in Florida were galvanized that year by having Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., on the ballot as running mate to former Vice President Al Gore. In April 2002, Eikenberg became Shaw's chief of staff, where he remained until Shaw was ousted in 2006 by Rep. Ron Klein, D-Fla. Eikenberg then became Crist's chief of staff and shifted to campaign manager for Crist's Senate race this year until the governor decided to bolt the Republican Party, after it became evident the GOP nomination would go to former state House Speaker Marco Rubio. "I have worked for the Republican Party in the past," he said, "and I have worked for Republican members of Congress, so when he made the decision to go that route, I did the same." Eikenberg hails from Coral Springs, Fla., and received a degree in political science from American University. At Holland & Knight LLP, Eikenberg will co-lead the firm's Florida Government Advocacy practice with former Florida Republican Gov. Bob Martinez.
STOICKED UP. Jordan Stoick and Robert Burley have been hired by public relations firm Direct Impact. Stoick, who has been named vice president, was most recently communications director for Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss. He has served as press secretary for the Senate Republican Conference, Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and former Rep. Bob Beauprez, R-Colo. He also has experience in the trenches, having served as grassroots field director for Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., when he defeated then-Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., in 2004. Burley had farther to travel to assume his new position. The newly anointed executive vice president arrives from Australia, where he was Royal Dutch Shell's senior external affairs adviser and practice leader for government and media relations.
This article appears in the July 3, 2010, edition of National Journal Daily.
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