Phoenix, Arizona - Kirk Adams, chief of staff to Governor Doug Ducey, Monday announced his planned departure from the Governor’s Office. Adams has served as chief of staff since January 2015 and will remain on staff until December 14, 2018.
“Kirk Adams has been a critical member of my team and key to our successes — leading the 2014 transition committee, serving as chief of staff since day one of my first term and most recently seeing our team through one of the most historic legislative sessions in state history,” said Governor Ducey. “Kirk’s long list of accomplishments prior to joining our team has grown exponentially over the last four years thanks to his unrivaled talent, policy depth, remarkable leadership and ability to build consensus among Arizona stakeholders. I am grateful to Kirk for his service and for his work to build an exceptionally talented team that will help continue Arizona’s success as a national leader for opportunity, jobs and economic growth.”
Adams, a native Arizonan, helped lead the Governor’s Office staff through a number of significant events from tackling a billion dollar budget deficit, to the negotiation of Proposition 123, a measure that settled a long-standing lawsuit and increased K-12 school funding by $3.5 billion over ten years, to the historic 2018 legislative session which saw included 20 percent teacher pay raises by the year 2020 and the unanimous passage of the Arizona Opioid Epidemic Act. Earlier this year, Kirk oversaw the governor’s efforts to honor the late Senator John McCain during the memorial services hosted at the Arizona State Capitol.
“I will be forever grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to serve as Governor Ducey’s chief of staff,” said Adams. “The decision to leave this role is not one I made lightly — I’ve often said I have the best job in the country, and that is attributed to the governor’s leadership and the exceptional team we built over the last four years. While I will miss the job and every member of the governor’s office, I am looking forward to new opportunities outside of state government.”
Adams previously served in the Arizona House of Representatives, first elected in 2006, and was elected as House Speaker just two years later. He is an Aspen Institute Rodel Fellow and previously served as chairman of the Arizona Leadership Council for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). Kirk’s four-year tenure as chief of staff exceeds the average length of service for a gubernatorial chief of staff, which is less than three years according to the National Governors Association.