WSJ DC bureau hires two staffers

Gerald Seib, the Wall Street Journal bureau chief in Washington, sent out the following staff announcement on Monday:

I wanted to alert all to two exciting new additions to the Washington bureau.

Peter Nicholas, currently White House correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, will be joining us to become part of our political team in the first week of February. Peter is well versed in covering politics and Washington, is a gifted writer, and, above all, is a delightful person. He was part of the Times’ 2008 campaign coverage team, and before that spent time covering the Arnold administration in Sacramento. He also has worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer, where he had the pleasure of covering one Ed Rendell, and before that, for the New Orleans Times-Picayune. One of his colleagues has told me that at the time he left the Times-Picayune, the Louisiana legislature passed a resolution wishing him safe passage to Pennsylvania, so thrilled were the lawmakers that he wouldn’t be doing investigative work in Louisiana any longer.

In addition to Peter, Colleen McCain Nelson of the Dallas Morning News will be joining the bureau in a few weeks, and also will become part of our 2012 campaign coverage team. Colleen is a columnist and editorial-page writer for the Morning News, and before that covered politics for the paper from 2001 to 2006. Among other things, she covered the 2004 presidential campaign, Texas state politics and Dallas City Hall. Most notably, Colleen shared the Pulitzer Prize in 2010 for a series of investigative editorials in the Morning News that chronicled, in the Pulitzer committee’s words, “the stark social and economic disparity between the city’s better-off northern half and distressed southern half.” Earlier in her career, Colleen covered education for the Morning News, and also was a reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Wichita Eagle. Of particular note: She was editor of the University Daily Kansan at the University of Kansas, which, as we all know, is the best possible launching pad for a successful career in journalism, and she’s a big Jayhawk basketball fan, which speaks for itself.

These additions allow us to strengthen the talented and hard-working team already deployed to provide deep coverage of a fascinating political year. I hope you’ll all get a chance to meet Peter and Colleen over time, and know you’ll join me in welcoming them.