Former Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, who served as both Democratic foil and dealmaker with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, has joined the high-powered public relations firm whose California office is currently occupied by Schwarzenegger's former campaign manager and communications director.
Núñez, a Los Angeles Democrat, will be the newest partner and co-chair of Mercury Public Affairs, LLC, a political firm with offices in seven cities across the country, according to a letter he has sent to supporters.
Steve Schmidt, who was the architect of Schwarzenegger's reelection campaign, and Adam Mendelsohn, the governor's former communications director and deputy chief of staff, are the current partners in Mercury's California office.
Schmidt was Sen. John McCain's campaign manager during this fall's presidential election. Terry Nelson, who served as McCain's campaign manager until his resignation in the summer of 2007, is also a Mercury partner, as is former McCain campaign spokesman Brian Jones.
Núñez's presence in the GOP-leaning firm gives the public affairs group a foothold among Democratic interests in California, the nation's most populous state.
Núñez, in a letter sent to supporters and paid for by his campaign committee, revealed the new job he will have "beginning next month." The former speaker is termed out after six years in the Assembly at the end of November.
"I look forward to seeing you again soon and to continuing to work with you to help make California an even better place to be," the former speaker's letter concludes.
Núñez's relationship with Schwarzenegger was rocky when he first assumed the helm of the lower house in 2004.
But the two grew close as they paired to help pass AB 32, California's landmark greenhouse gas measure, as well as to work on a major health care overhaul in 2007. The health care effort ultimately failed in the state Senate.
Núñez pressed for a ballot measure in February 2008 to extend the term limits for existing lawmakers. Schwarzenegger ultimately flipped his position on term limits to endorse the measure, Proposition 93, in part citing his good relations with Núñez and other incumbent leaders.
"It sounds good to go and say, 'Let's take the time away' ... but the reality of it is when you work in there, and I've now just started working with Fabian and with Perata and Ackerman, and all those characters together -- you start building a trust, and all the sudden they're gone next year," Schwarzenegger told The Bee editorial board in January.
Now Núñez will be working with two of Schwarzenegger's former top aides and continued advisers at Mercury.
"As I prepare to leave office at the end of the month, it has become increasingly clear that what is best about the legislature are the people you work with and the relationships you build," Núñez writes in the letter. "It has been a privilege serving the people of California in the Assembly."
Photo: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger talks with Speaker Fabian Núñez, before the governor signed an executive order establishing the world's first low carbon standard for transportation fuels, Thursday Jan. 18, 2007. Credit: Sacramento Bee/ Brian Baer
@Nyx.CommentBody@