David Kihara, Grace Maalouf, Jonathan Miller, Bob King and Clea Benson of Politico sent out the following on Thursday:
We’re also delighted that Sam Larreal will be joining the transportation team after a standout run covering technology and politics at NOTUS. There, he documented how Silicon Valley giants disrupted Washington; how artificial intelligence, data centers and social media upended state-level and federal politics; and how these emerging technologies changed the work of politicians and political operatives. He also covered influence, delivering impressive scoops on how Eric Swallwell was peddling his AI-powered fundraising startup to colleagues.
Before moving to D.C., Sam covered Florida politics for Teen Vogue, where he reported on the 2024 general election. He is originally from Venezuela, and moved to Miami before attending Florida International University. He starts Aug. 11 and will report to Jonathan Miller.
Sam’s hire will double the number of Sams on the Transpo team. Sam Ogozalek, who deftly led the morning newsletter while distinguishing himself with a truckload of scoops, will move to a beat covering ground transportation, including the sputtering highway bill. In his time so far at POLITICO, Sam O. broke exclusive details on Sean Duffy’s ill-fated road trip as well as FAA administrator Bryan Bedford’s curiously slow divestiture of airline stock. He’s been all over AI efforts at the FAA and has delivered a series of deeply reported stories on stalled aviation safety legislation
