Department of Finance
915 L Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
 

H.D. Palmer, Deputy Director for External Affairs

H.D. Palmer, Deputy Director for External Affairs at the California Department of Finance, was appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger in November 2003, and serves as a principal spokesman for the governor on budget and fiscal issues. Prior to his appointment, Palmer served on the press staff of the Schwarzenegger campaign in 2003, and was a transition spokesman for then-Governor Elect Schwarzenegger from October to November of 2003.

Palmer also served at the Department of Finance from 1993 to 1999 as an assistant director for then-Governor Pete Wilson. He then spent two years in Idaho as policy director and then communications director for Governor Dirk Kempthorne. Palmer returned to California in the fall of 2001 to become communications director for the California Senate Republican Caucus under former GOP Leader Jim Brulte.

Prior to joining the Wilson Administration, Palmer served on Capitol Hill for 12 years as a spokesman for three Republican United States Senators — S.I. Hayakawa of California, Jim McClure of Idaho, and John Seymour of California. Palmer is a graduate of the University of Maryland’s College of Journalism.