Republican John Katko, who beat incumbent Dan Maffei to represent the 24th Congressional District, has picked for his senior staff a mixture of familiar central New York faces, an experienced Capitol Hill staffer, and colleagues he has worked with before.
Familiar to many in Syracuse is Tom Connellan, who has worked for the Syracuse Police Department for 25 years. Connellan will become Katko's district director, leading the local staff here in central New York. Connellan has most recently been the press spokesman for the Syracuse police.
For his chief of staff, Katko picked Brad Gentile, who works for another Republican congressman from New York, Chris Gibson. Gentile previously worked as a legislative assistant for House Speaker John Boehner when he was the Republican leader of the House.
There's a bit of bipartisanship in Katko's picks, as well. His director of constituent services has worked for Rep. Richard Hanna and Rep. Dan Maffei. Katko's communications director during the campaign, Erin O'Connor, will continue in that role.
Congressman-elect Katko will be sworn in along with other incoming freshman representatives on January 6.