By: Politico

GOP Still Tops at AIA

The American Insurance Association is replacing its Republican president with another Republican.

Former Montana Gov. Marc Racicot, who’s helmed the American Insurance Association since 2005, is stepping down Feb. 1. Leigh Ann Pusey, a former top GOP communications aide who’s now the AIA’s chief operating officer and senior vice president for government affairs, will take over.

Association flack Blain Rethmeier told Suite Talk that Racicot approached AIA’s board of directors before the Democratic wave on Election Day and asked to step down before his contract was up.

The directors agreed, Rethmeier said, and made the “natural choice” to promote Pusey.

She’s been with the association for a decade but previously held several high-profile GOP jobs. She was communications coordinator for then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), deputy communications director for the Republican National Committee and a deputy assistant to President George H.W. Bush in the White House Office of Public Liaison.

Despite her Republican ties, ­Rethmeier said, Pusey has a record of working with Democrats, too. “The issues our industry deals with aren’t so partisan,” he said. And politics aside, “she’s a workhorse.”

Movement at the Migration Policy Institute

The folks at the Migration Policy Institute have some new moves to track. Donald Kerwin Jr., the longtime executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, is MPI’s new vice president for programs.

In addition, Michael Fix, the institute’s vice president and director of studies, was promoted to senior vice president. He’ll also maintain his role as co-director of MPI’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy.

The group’s other new hires are senior policy analyst Randy Capps, previously of the Urban Institute, and Roberto Suro, a journalism professor at the University of Southern California, who joins as a senior nonresident scholar and senior adviser to MPI President Demetrios Papademetriou.

Curwen Joins Widmeyer

Elizabeth Curwen is settling “quite nicely” into her new digs at Widmeyer Communications as vice president for the firm’s public affairs practice.

She started two months ago, though she admits, “I wasn’t looking for a new job at all.”

Curwen left her position as senior associate at APCO Worldwide’s issue management and grass-roots practice, where she worked with a team of chemical and pharmaceutical management professionals around the world.

Her chemical expertise comes from her previous role as director of public affairs for the American Chemistry Council, where she managed the PR and communications work for the council’s $20 million “essential2” public education campaign.

Still, Curwen says she’s as surprised as anyone that she’s involved in chemicals and pharmaceuticals, since she majored in geography and environmental studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

“It’s funny, because I never intended to specialize in chemical issues, but it sort of followed me, I guess,” Curwen laughed.

With the new Obama administration, Curwen said, “it’s a whole new ballgame, with a new audience and a new set of players.”

“We’ll all be attentively watching the Cabinet guessing game, especially the EPA role, and keeping our clients up to date on policy changes in chemical risk management,” she said.

American Heart Association Gets First Female CEO

Nancy Brown has been named chief executive officer of the American Heart Association, becoming the first woman in the association’s history to hold the title. She succeeds Cass Wheeler, who’s retiring as CEO at the end of the year.

“I hope to continue the fine legacy Cass has provided to the association and its key external partners,” Brown told us. “I also will be working towards reaching our 2020 strategic impact goals of reducing the percentage of those impacted by the devastating effects of cardiovascular disease.”

For the past seven years, Brown has been chief operating officer, and her ties to the association go back to 1986. Since then, she’s worked for the association’s state and regional affiliates in Michigan, Massachusetts and New England and, at the national level, as executive vice president for science operations.

“The stars have aligned,” Brown said, referring to her new job, which takes effect Jan. 1.

Bookmark This: Qorvis/Patton Boggs Webinars

Experts from two big firms — ­Qorvis Communications and Patton Boggs — are partnering for a series of online public policy discussions that we hear are already a hit with clients. Suite Talk recommends starting with “The Morning After,” an election recap.

— Jacqueline Klingebiel and Ariel Alexovich

Suite Talk is a regular Politico feature that follows career changes, client developments and other movements in the public affairs sector. Please send news items and photos to suitetalk@politico.com.

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