Willette moves from LePage campaign to new job as spokesman for state finance department

Alex Willette poses for a photo outside the State House. (Photo by Troy R. Bennett/Bangor Daily News)

Alex Willette poses for a photo outside the State House. (Photo by Troy R. Bennett/Bangor Daily News)

Former assistant House minority leader and spokesman for Gov. Paul LePage’s re-election campaign Alex Willette has landed a job as a spokesman for the Department of Administrative and Financial Services.

Willette, who is one of Maine’s two representatives on the National Republican Committee, was the youngest-ever legislative leader in the U.S. He resigned from his House seat representing the Mapleton area earlier this year.

Willette said Wednesday that he started his job at DAFS on Monday. The department is not as visible to the public as others in state government but is at the center of developing and then overseeing the state’s budgeting process. Willette’s boss is DAFS Commissioner Richard Rosen.

Willette is the second person who helped on LePage’s campaign to land a new job in state government. Former House GOP spokesman David Sorensen, who spent the past several months as the face of the Maine Republican Party, announced last week that he has been hired as the spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services.

Willette’s official title — because I for one will be calling him just spokesman from now on — is director of legislative affairs and communications. Willette replaces former DAFS spokeswoman Jennifer Smith, who recently took another job within state government.

Christopher Cousins

About Christopher Cousins

Christopher Cousins has worked as a journalist in Maine for more than 15 years and covered state government for numerous media organizations before joining the Bangor Daily News in 2009.