Walt hires two Idaho natives

Walt Minnick - Right for Idaho

December 03, 2008

For immediate release

BOISE, ID - Congressman-elect Walt Minnick (ID-01) has hired two key people for his new Congressional office.
Kate Haas will serve as deputy chief of staff, and will work in Minnick’s Washington, D.C. office.  John M. Foster will be Minnick’s senior advisor and director of communications, and will be based in Idaho. Both will report directly to Isaac Squyres, Minnick’s new chief of staff.
“Idaho’s first congressional district will benefit greatly from both John and Kate,”  Minnick said. “Both have deep Idaho roots and understand Idaho’s unique needs.  I am pleased to have them on my staff.”

About Kate Haas
Haas has spent the last four years working for Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Indiana), most recently as his director of operations, where she oversaw hiring, served as liaison to Senate legal counsel, and managed a budget which returned money to the U.S. taxpayers every year. Haas began her career as a staffer in the Oregon State Senate after graduating from Willamette University, and went on to work for two other members of Congress before joining Bayh’s staff. She lives with her husband in Washington, and they enjoy spending their vacations at home skiing Brundage Mountain.  She is a Boise High School graduate and is the daughter of Cheryl Haas of McCall and Patrick and Alison Haas of Boise.

About John M. Foster
Foster, also an Idaho native, most recently worked as a member of Minnick’s winning campaign team. Prior to Minnick’s campaign, Foster was executive director of the Idaho Democratic Party, where he oversaw the state’s record-breaking Feb. 5 presidential caucuses. Foster jumped to politics from journalism after spending more than 10 years as an award-winning investigative reporter, blogger and editor for the Idaho Business Review and other publications in the west. In addition to his journalism career, Foster spent time as a professional bicycle racer. He and his wife Andrea have a five-year-old son and a two-year-old daughter.