Off to Washington

Runner staffer takes position in Bush camp

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press March 21, 2002.

By LISA WAHLA
Valley Press Staff Writer

Between managing a victorious Assembly campaign and preparing for a coveted new position in the Bush administration, March has been a good month for Quartz Hill native Ginny Ward.

Ward worked as Assemblyman George Runner's communications director in Sacramento for two years before returning to the Antelope Valley in November to direct the successful campaign of his wife, Sharon.

Now, after a whirlwind of a campaign - one of the most expensive and contentious Republican primaries in memory - Ward is heading east to Washington to become a deputy communications director in the Department of Commerce.

"Once (George W.) Bush got elected, that's when I knew I wanted to go back (East)," said Ward, a Paraclete High graduate who has worked for numerous GOP campaigns and politicians.

"It's sort of a chance of a lifetime."

Ward's work with the Bush 2000 campaign - she was on the California Republican Party payroll as a Bay Area field representative - helped pave her way to the job.

When Bush was elected, countless campaign volunteers and staffers from across the country sought positions in the new administration. A thick book details the hundreds of jobs that are replaced when a new president takes office.

Ward, 27, said she enjoyed her work with George Runner immensely and learned a lot, but believed she was ready to move up to the political scene in the nation's capital. She initially applied over the Internet for a job - basically any communications job available - more than a year ago.

The process was slow, but Ward received good news after she met with a Bush personnel director in October, when he and the president visited Sacramento.

"There are two boxes - one for all the people who worked on the campaign and wanted a job, and then there's the must-hire box," said Ward, who has an upbeat personality and easy laugh.

"I was put in the must-hire box. I heard in November, `You'll get a job, but it'll take time.' "

Between November and February, Ward heard from well-known and obscure departments - the U.S. Export-Import Bank and the Department of Defense, among others.

The timing worked out best, though, when Department of Commerce officials came to Los Angeles in February. Ward managed to take a day off from the busy Runner campaign for an interview, which went well. Now she's packing her bags, giving up her Sacramento apartment and readying herself for her April 1 starting date with the department's Trade Development Office.

"The timing is wonderful," George Runner said. "She was able to be a part of our staff, help Sharon, then move to Washington. I'm glad she wasn't back there any earlier; we needed her for Sharon's campaign."

Sharon Runner said Ward did everything, from writing newsletters and helping coordinate more than 100 volunteers to driving back and forth to the Victor Valley for campaign events.

"She was a great asset," Sharon said. "I couldn't have done it without her."

The Runners have known Ward's family for decades. Tom Ward, Ginny's father, served as Lancaster's city attorney from the city's incorporation in 1977 until 1987.

Still, Ward said George Runner didn't hire her when she first applied for a job in 1996, straight out of the University of San Francisco.

"I didn't have any experience," she said.

Ward instead went to work for Gov. Pete Wilson's government, where she stayed about a year before accepting a job with Runner's office in Lancaster. Next came stints in the San Diego mayor's office, in a small public relations firm and then back to Runner's office, this time in Sacramento in late 1999.

Ward also squeezed in internships with U.S. Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon's office in Washington and with Wilson's district office in San Francisco. She worked on Dan Lungren's bid for governor and Bob Dole's presidential campaign.

Now, she's excited about her move east and hoping for more - perhaps a spot in the press office of Bush's re-election headquarters in 2004.

"Then maybe I can concentrate on having a personal life - or sleeping."