< Back to front page Text size – +

Top aide to Gov. Patrick to step down

E-mail|Link|Comments () July 2, 2009 12:23 PM

By Andrea Estes, Globe Staff

Doug Rubin, chief of staff to Governor Deval Patrick, said today that he will leave the administration in mid-July to reprise the role he played in the 2006 governor's campaign -- senior strategist.

Rubin, 41, joined the administration in April 2007 to try to repair the political damage from Patrick's rocky first few months in office, when Patrick came under fire for choosing a Cadillac as his official car and spending thousands of dollars on new furniture and drapes.

Rubin, who has been rumored to be leaving for months, said he is resigning now because the "agenda that the governor ran on has been successful." He cited three major reform initiatives -- the transportation, pension and ethics bills -- that have all recently been signed into law.

"The governor has maintained his commitments to education and healthcare reform even through a difficult economy," Rubin said.

"I said I'd stay six months," added Rubin, who has now served more than two years.

Rubin will be succeeded by Arthur Bernard, a longtime Beacon Hill insider, who currently serves as Patrick's director of Cabinet affairs, overseeing the governor's Cabinet secretaries. He served as chief of staff to former Senate President Robert Travaglini, joining the governor's staff in 2008.

Rubin will return to the consulting business he ran before taking the chief of staff post.

He said he is not concerned about leaving the administration when Patrick's popularity is at its lowest, according to some polls.

"At this point, 18 months out from an election, it's much more important that we focus on the substance," he said. "The governor has delivered that for Massachusetts. There will be plenty of time to worry about the campaign and the polls."

Before working on Patrick's campaign, Rubin served as a top aide to state Treasurer Timothy Cahill, who has been mulling a run against Patrick in 2010.