Kris is a partner at Granite Public Affairs, a consulting firm that provides lobbying, public relations and issue advocacy services. Prior to that Kris served as Governor Rick Perry’s deputy chief of staff, where he helped manage the office and advised the governor on legislative strategy, communications strategy, and a wide variety of state agency matters. Serving the governor for more than nine years, he also held positions of deputy legislative director, liaison to the Senate, and policy advisor.
Throughout his tenure in the governor’s office he worked directly with statewide elected officials, agency leaders, political appointees, and members of the Texas House of Representatives and Senate. Kris’ background in the legislative branch includes serving as the messenger to the Texas Senate for the House, and as a policy analyst and deputy general counsel for the Sunset Advisory Commission. While working at the Sunset Commission, he worked with agency officials while analyzing their operations in order to make restructuring recommendations to the Legislature.
Additionally Kris has private sector experience working as a consultant and lobbyist with a small firm in Dallas, where he represented land owners, municipalities, and developers, building and maintaining coalitions to help advance his clients’ agendas. Kris is a member of the Texas A&M University class of 1992, and earned his law degree from Texas Southern University. He and his wife Mary live in Austin with their children Leah and Kyle.
