Political People and their Moves

Officially, now: Former legislator, Railroad Commissioner and Comptroller John Sharp is the new chancellor at the Texas A&M University System, having sat as the apparent pick for the required 21 days. Now he's got a salary.

The Texas Democratic Party announced some new hires: Cindy Flint as primary and convention director, Brian Hodgdon as Texas VAN (Voter Activation Network) director, Rebekah Anthony as finance coordinator and Rebecca Acuña as deputy political director for base outreach. Flint served as director of administration at the Travis County Democratic Party and worked with the Texas Federation of Teachers. Hodgdon has served as a chief of staff in the Texas House and as policy director for the Texas House Democratic Caucus. Anthony worked as a political associate for the Angerholzer Team, a consulting firm. Acuña most recently served as communications director for Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston.

Linda Flores takes over as interim executive director at the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, replacing Edward Serna. She's been the agency's chief financial officer since April 2010, and worked a several state agencies and for the City of Corpus Christi before that. The board is conducting a search for the position.

Luis Gonzalez is the Department of Public Safety's new assistant director and chief of the Texas Highway Patrol, the first Hispanic to hold that job. He was a regional commander of a region that includes Austin, San Antonio and Waco. Duane Steen is the new regional commander for DPS's Region 2, which includes Houston, Beaumont and Bryan/College Station. Steen, with the agency since 1981, is the first African-American to serve as a regional commander for the DPS.

Kyle Kamrath is bailing on the Capitol to lobby for the Texas Apartment Association. He worked for Rep. Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills, and for Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston.

Howard Baldwin will be he interim commissioner at the state's Department of Family and Protective Services, where Anne Heiligenstein is retiring. Baldwin is currently the interim chief at the Texas Department of Rural Affairs and worked at the attorney general's office and at the old Department of Protective and Regulatory Services, which became DFPS.

President Obama appointed Gregg Costa to be a federal judge in Galveston. He's an assistant U.S. Attorney and a former law clerk to the late William Rehnquist, chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Gov. Rick Perry appointed Dr. Robert Schmidt of Aledo to the Texas Racing Commission. He's an orthopedic surgeon.

This initially slipped by us, but Jeff Boyd, who was the governor's general counsel, is now Perry's chief of staff. He replaces Ray Sullivan, who moved over to the governor's presidential campaign. The campaign, meanwhile, doled out some titles to people who've been over there for a few weeks, to wit: Rob Johnson, campaign manager; Deirdre Delisi, policy and strategy director; Wayne Hamilton, political director; Sullivan, communications director; Eric Bearse, deputy communications director; Mark Miner, national press secretary; Robert Black, travel press secretary; and Katherine Cessinger, state press director.