The newest addition to the White House communications shop has not only served a former Arkansas governor, but has roots in El Dorado.
On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that President Donald Trump has hired Hogan Gidley as deputy White House press secretary. Gidley’s first day on the job was Wednesday.
According to a column from former News-Times Managing Editor Shea Wilson that ran in 2015, Gidley grew up in El Dorado and was once the editor of the Hi-Gusher, the student newspaper for El Dorado High School.
Gidley, who has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Mississippi, previously worked on former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s staff, as well as on the re-election campaign for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole in 2008, the 2012 presidential campaign of former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Huckabee’s 2016 presidential campaign. He also has worked as the executive director of the South Carolina Republican Party.
In the 2015 News-Times column, Gidley said his experiences growing up in the area have helped him in his career, adding that “The lessons I learned and the friendships I built in El Dorado are never far.”
“El Dorado is just a great town,” Gidley said at the time. “I don’t miss the tornadoes and weather, but I do miss Spudnuts. They are worth the calories.”
Gidley is serving under another native Arkansan, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.