Chris Meagher Takes the White House

Our Man in the White House

From the dry-walled halls of Figueroa Street to the polished lecterns of Pennsylvania Avenue, our newspaper’s former reporter Chris Meagher was named deputy press secretary for President Joe Biden this week, capping a steady rise from scrappy journalism to national politics.

“Working for President Biden is a tremendous honor, and with many challenges ahead, there’s a lot of work to do,” said Meagher, who came to Santa Barbara in 2006 and worked for the Independent from 2008 to 2013. He then took a job with Rep. Lois Capps, did a brief stint for General Motors in his home state of Michigan, and turned back to politics to work for Democrats in Colorado and Montana, where he was communications director for the hard-fought 2018 reelection of Sen. Jon Tester. His most prominent national role so far was serving as national press secretary for Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign, as shown in this picture with the candidate.

“I miss being a reporter, and I miss the Independent family and community,” said Meagher. “But I’ll be doing my best to represent Santa Barbara well.”