Lombardo names ex-budget director deputy chief of staff

Gov.-elect Joe Lombardo named two key members of his management team on Wednesday.

Former budget director Jim Wells will become deputy chief of staff and Michele Shull will be his executive assistant.

Shull is the longtime judicial administrator to Nevada Supreme Court Justice Jim Hardesty.

They join former state senator and gaming commission member Ben Kieckhefer, who Lombardo has tapped as his chief of staff.

Lombardo also has named several chairs of different transition teams headed by Ryan Erwin. Lombardo said more announcements will be made ahead of the Jan. 3 inauguration.

He also appointed Elizabeth Ray as his communications director.

Wells is a long time Carson City resident who began his career as an accountant. In addition to serving as budget director and Director of Administration, he also headed the Public Employee Benefits program and chief of fiscal services for the Superintendent of Education.

Shull has worked for Hardesty since 2005. Before that she was judicial assistant to Hardesty when he was a Washoe County district judge and prior to that, 20 years at a Reno law firm.