Janet Polarek

State:Virginia
Current Office:Secretary of State
Party:Republican Party

Janet Vestal Polarek was sworn in as Secretary of the Commonwealth on January 24, 2010. She has worked for more than a decade in different capacities for Governor-elect McDonnell in both political and governmental roles. She initially started her service as a legislative intern for then-Delegate McDonnell then quickly moved into a political role helping to manage his 1999 re-election bid. She ran his candidate committee, McDonnell for Virginia, from 2002-2004 and served as campaign manager for his election to Attorney General in 2005. Janet served as Chief of Staff and Director of Administration for then-Attorney General McDonnell, where she managed the finance, operations, information technology, and human resources divisions of the Office. As Director of Administration, Janet oversaw significant reforms in the Office that streamlined systems and increased efficiency. Janet also served as Deputy Director of the McDonnell Gubernatorial Transition and Director of the McDonnell transition into the Attorney General’s office.

Other work experience includes having served as press secretary for Congressman Bob Goodlatte in his Capitol Hill office and serving as Director of a homeless shelter for women and children in Hampton Roads. Janet lives in the Fan area of Richmond, is an active member of the Area 10 Faith Community and has one daughter.

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