Former Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Chip Saltsman is returning to Washington, D.C., as chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, the new Republican congressman from Chattanooga.
Saltsman, 42, said Thursday he decided to join Fleischmann’s staff after heading his campaign last year and leading the new congressman’s transition team since November.
“In interviewing people during the transition, it sounded like this would be fun and I needed to get on the team,” Saltsman said. “This is a unique opportunity to be part of a big freshman class of Republicans who helped take control of the House. It’s an historic time in Washington and I’m honored that Chuck asked me to join him.”
Saltsman previously worked on Capitol Hill in a variety of posts for former U.S. Rep. Don Sundquist, R-Tenn. — later a two-term Tennessee governor — and former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.
Saltsman was chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party during the 2000 election campaign. In 2009, Saltsman ran unsuccessfully for chairman of the Republican National Committee. The Nashville native withdrew from the contest after he distributed a music parody produced by satirist Paul Shanklin called “Barack the Magic Negro,” set to the tune of “Puff the Magic Dragon.”
Saltsman said he wasn’t aware of the CD’s contents, which critics said was racially offensive.
“That’s in the past,” Saltsman said.
He also worked for the National Republican Senatorial Committee before becoming national campaign chairman for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in his 2008 White House bid. Saltsman said he remains close to Huckabee, who is among the Republicans frequently mentioned as 2012 presidential candidates.
Fleischmann, a Chattanooga attorney, won the contest to replace Zach Wamp, who gave up his congressional seat after 16 years to run for Tennessee governor. Wamp lost the GOP gubernatorial primary to Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam.
Wamp’s chief of staff, former Chattanooga radio and newspaper reporter Helen Hardin, also will work for Fleischmann.
Hardin will help with the transition and oversee congressional services at Fleischmann’s district office in Oak Ridge, location of the biggest federal facilities in the district — the Y-12 weapons plant and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.