Name: McKay Daniels
Hometown: Henderson, Nev.
Occupation: Chief of staff for Rep. Reid Ribble, R-Wis.
Age: 37
Alma Mater: George Washington University
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Washington Examiner: How did you get started in politics?
Daniels: I started in 1998 working in my home state on a marquee Senate race, [Sen. Harry] Reid versus [Rep. John] Ensign. If you’re going to have something be your first campaign, then that’s a doozy. Ensign lost by roughly 400 votes. When he won in 2000, I went to work for him as a legislative correspondent.
Examiner: You’ve been with the congressman since day one. What is it like going from that to leading an office that is winding down as he retires?
Daniels: It has been interesting to see the full arc of an office, from getting the keys and starting it up, to the day-to-day nature of things, and now to the wind-down. Regardless of next steps, this has been a great experience with a terrific boss and a team that’s second-to-none. I’ll appreciate it for what it is. You hear horror stories on the Hill of members who are, for lack of a better word, tyrants. I’ve been blessed, and I think the institution has benefited as well, with the opposite situation in Reid.
Examiner: Is it hard keeping folks focused on the task at hand now that they know the congressman is retiring?
Daniels: So far our office tempo and focus has been virtually the same as before. Reid is a member who isn’t going to stop working until they sine die for this session and the team reflects that. I’m sure there will be folks transitioning on to other opportunities at some point, but it hasn’t happened yet. Our office has been fortunate to have extremely low turnover; and that’s continued in the month since Reid’s announcement [on Jan. 30]. He’s focused on doing his job and we are working in the same fashion.
Examiner: When we spoke last year about how you ended up back on Capitol Hill, you said how you had left Washington and started on “life’s path” and had no plans to return, but Ribble was too enticing of a politician to not work for so you stayed on after the [2010] campaign. Given that, do you see yourself staying on the Hill after he retires? Staying in Washington?
Daniels: Talk about life’s plans, huh? When I started with Reid, my wife and I had a one-year-old boy. He’s now turning seven … in addition to his younger three-year-old brother and one-year-old sister who have come along since. They don’t know what I do other than “work for Reid” and they’ve been asking about what comes next, too. But it’s interesting because they’ve asked for both our family, “What will you do next, Dad?” as well as for the country, “Who’s going to be the next congressman?” which has been fascinating to see them connect that there will be someone new.
I’m not sure what I’m going to do next. We’ve got 10 or so months to figure it out, and as someone who’s seen far too many unexpected things happen in life, I’ve learned to be flexible and open to the changes in life’s path. As John Lennon said: “Life is what’s happening when you’re busy making other plans.”
The family hopes to stay in Washington, but I’m honestly a little more neutral about it [being on his third tour of duty in Washington]. That’s the blessing of a retiring member, versus one that loses an election. You have time for everything to settle. I haven’t set up a D.C. or Hill bucket-list yet, but maybe I should just to be prudent. Children are allowed on the House floor and ours haven’t been down there. I’ve got to get them down there during a vote series so their grandparents can see ’em on C-SPAN for a treat.
Examiner: Which side is more fun to work on, the House or the Senate?
Daniels: Working on the House side is more fun. Every day is different and even within the day, it’s a wide variety. I might spend a half-hour talking about dairy policy and then a half-hour talking about ISIS; then the budget, then cranberries, and how they relate to trade. I was expecting Senate pace [when he started with Ribble, his first House office]. You’re an expert on this one little piece of the world. In the House, you wear a couple different hats. Variety and pace has been something I’ve really enjoyed.
