Gov. Rick Scott announced on Monday that Kim McDougal is resigning as his chief of staff, a post she started in April 2016.
After Melissa Sellers announced her resignation last year, Scott tapped McDougal, who was then his deputy chief of staff, to move up to replace her. McDougal will leave her current post at the start of July to work in the private sector.
Scott had kind words for McDougal on Monday.
“Over the last year, Florida had its fair share of tragic events including two hurricanes, the terrorist attack at Pulse Nightclub, and the shooting at Ft. Lauderdale Airport,” Scott said. “During these tough events, Kim has lead my team through crisis and helped ensure we did all we could to help Florida families during these dark hours. Despite these challenges, we have also had great success this year, and she has worked every day to make sure Florida remains the top place for families to succeed and live their dreams. Kim is a statewide leader in education policy and has played a tremendous role in guiding the education policies I have fought for while in office, including providing record funding for our students, keeping higher education affordable and expanding school choice options. Kim has proudly served Florida families for nearly three decades and her years of experience will be missed in my office. I know she will continue to do great things for our state.”
“It has been my absolute pleasure serving Florida families for almost three decades,” McDougal said. It truly has been an honor to wake up every day and fight for policies that will make a difference in our families’ lives. Governor Scott is focused on making Florida the top place to get a great job and education, and I was honored to help work on policies to make Florida number one in the nation for families.”
McDougal has held a number of different roles in Scott’s administration, serving as deputy chief of staff, legislative affairs director and education policy coordinator. McDougal also worked for Scott’s campaign on policy and served as his policy director. Before that, she worked at the state Department of Education as a senior policy advisor and as governmental relations director. She also worked under former Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla., and in the state Legislature’s Office of Program Policy and Government Accountability in the Florida Legislature. She holds a doctorate in education from Florida State University.
First elected in 2010, Scott will now have to look for his sixth chief of staff. In 2011, Scott first turned to Mike Prendergast and then Steve MacNamara as chiefs of staff. In late 2012, Scott named Adam Hollingsworth to the post. In December 2014, Scott turned to Sellers who had been his communications director and the campaign manager of his successful reelection bid.
