JACKSON – Pete Smith, Gov. Haley Barbour’ press secretary, has been named by the state Board of Education as the director of communications for the Department of Education.
Smith, has been a political spokesman for several years, first for then-Republican Auditor Phil Bryant and later for Barbour when he first became governor in 2004.
Smith has always been a cordial and competent spokesman – willing to help the press whenever he could.
While the state Board has been careful not to pick a fight with Barbour, it is no secret they were at odds early in his administration over education funding.As the governor’s spokesman, Smith was one of the point men early in the Barbour administration over claims – for the most part very subtle – that the Adequate Education Program provided too much money to local school districts.
But Barbour, a crafty politician, realized that argument was a losing one, and he changed his tune.
Smith, no doubt, will trumpet the message of the state Department of Education with the same competency as he did in the past for the
governor.
