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06/01/2006State senator's wife quits legislative staff postTRAVERSE CITY — Suzanne Miller Allen, chief of staff for state Senate Majority Leader Ken Sikkema and wife of Sen. Jason Allen of Traverse City, resigned her position to take a job with a private firm. Miller Allen has run Republican leadership offices in the House and Senate for more than 16 years and is known as one of the most powerful women among the state legislature staff. She'll go to work this month for the Sterling Corp., a national public affairs and political consulting firm co-founded by Dan Pero, former Gov. John Engler's chief of staff. Allen served as Sikkema's chief of staff since January 1997, initially when he was House Republican Leader and later, after he was elected to the Senate. Prior to working for Sikkema, Allen was chief of staff for House Speaker Paul Hillegonds and previously worked for Sen. Dick Posthumus. Lori Wortz, former chief of staff for Posthumus, is a partner at Sterling Corp. "There are no words to adequately describe how much her work has meant to me, the Legislature and the people of Michigan," Sikkema said in a written statement. Miller Allen's announcement came on the heels of a Record-Eagle series about Jason Allen's use of secret accounts to accept corporate contributions, but Sikkema spokesman Ari Adler said the timing was a coincidence. Jason Allen is considered a front-runner to take over for Sikkema as leader of the Senate, and Suzanne Allen cannot work directly for her husband. Adler said Allen for months has searched for a new job and informed Sikkema on Thursday she had accepted the Sterling position. "I've had the privilege of working for some of the finest legislative leaders in this state's history and leaving Sen. Sikkema before he's completed his final term in office was not an easy decision," Allen said in a statement. See related stories:
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