McAuliffe aide suggested job for senator’s daughter if he remained in his seat
RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s chief of staff left a voice-mail message for a Democrat who was on the verge of quitting the General Assembly in June, saying that the senator’s daughter might get a top state job if he stayed to support the governor’s push to expand Medicaid, according to descriptions from three people who heard the recording.
Then-Sen. Phillip P. Puckett wound up resigning, flipping control of the chamber to Republicans and thwarting McAuliffe’s signature goal of expanding health coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
Puckett’s abrupt exit came amid accusations that Republicans had enticed him to leave with job offers for himself and his daughter, triggering an ongoing federal investigation and inflaming partisan passions in Richmond.
Now a voice-mail message suggests that Puckett fielded a similar overture from Paul Reagan, McAuliffe’s chief of staff.
The governor’s spokesman initially denied Thursday that Reagan had made any potential job offers, but he later acknowledged that the call had been made after he was read a transcript of Reagan’s message given to The Washington Post.
full: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/mcauliffe-aide-suggested-job-for-senators-daughter-if-he-remained-in-his-seat/2014/10/02/e4564904-4984-11e4-b72e-d60a9229cc10_story.html
The Post reported on June 27: E-mails show that Puckett job was in the works before he resigned from Va. Senate