Reid losing highest-ranking Nevada adviser

WASHINGTON -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is losing his top communications aide, Jon Summers, who also is his most senior leadership adviser with Nevada ties.

Summers announced he is leaving Reid's staff after five years and will join a Washington-based political consulting firm.

For most of his tenure since July 2006, Summers, 40, served as Reid's communications director for Nevada. He was a key strategist in Reid's long and tense campaign for re-election last year.

He was rewarded after the election with increased responsibilities as Reid's chief media adviser and the Senate leader's voice to the national press.

He becomes the latest communications adviser to leave Reid since the Nevadan turned over control of his political messaging "war room" to Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., after elections last November in which Democrats lost a net six seats in the Senate.

"After the election, I was asked to help strengthen Sen. Reid's communication operation and help with the reorganization of the War Room to ensure the Leader and his caucus were in the best position going into 2012," Summers said in a memo to Reid's staff late Thursday.

"I am proud of the communications team we have and the accomplishments we've made," Summers wrote. "Now, with things up and running, I'm ready to take my next personal step. I have the deepest admiration and respect for Sen. Reid and feel very fortunate to have been able to work with such a talented and dedicated staff."

Summers is a Texas native who worked as a news reporter at KLAS-TV, Channel 8, in Las Vegas from 1999 until becoming a spokesman for the Nevada Democratic Party from 2003 to 2005. He joined Reid's staff after a short stint as communications director for the Democratic Governors Association.

As Reid has become a national political figure, Summers was his closest adviser with connections to Nevada. Reid directly employs 102 people in his leadership and personal offices, according to payroll records gathered by Legistorm, a reporting service. Reid's staff estimated about a third of his employees are from Nevada.

Adam Jentleson, a deputy communications staffer who is from Washington, D.C., will succeed Summers, sources confirmed Friday.

Summers has accepted a job as senior vice president at GMMB, a Washington-based political consulting firm that has worked on Reid campaigns. One of its partners, Jim Margolis, is a close Reid adviser.

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760.