Ducey’s chief of staff announces resignation

Kirk Adams, Gov. Doug Ducey’s chief of staff, announced his resignation Monday after nearly four years as the governor’s right-hand man, saying he was “looking forward to new opportunities outside of state government.”

He will step down Dec. 14, the Governor’s Office said. Former Ducey spokesman Daniel Scarpinato will take his place, with budget and policy official Gretchen Conger promoted to sole deputy chief of staff.

“The decision to leave this role is not one I made lightly,” Adams said in a statement Monday. “I’ve often said I have the best job in the country, and that is attributed to the governor’s leadership and the exceptional team we built over the last four years.”

Adams, 45, submitted his resignation letter Nov. 12, according to a copy obtained by The Arizona Republic — less than a week after Ducey won a second term as governor.

“I have determined over the course of the last many weeks that the time has come for me to move on, regardless (of ) the outcome of the elections,” Adams wrote. “There is no specific event or issue that brought me to this conclusion, and I have no complaints. I have only a gut feeling that now is the time.”

He went on to say there are “no specific plans in place for what comes next for me,” indirectly addressing rumors that he has loftier political ambitions. He unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2012, and as Ducey weighed a successor for U.S. Sen. John McCain, Adams’ name frequently popped up on speculative lists.

“I am mindful of your expressed desire that part of your legacy be akin to (former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels’) legacy, in that his alums remain important Indiana leaders,” he wrote in the letter.