Neb. native leads Sen. Kohl's staff

Phil Karsting, a native of Blue Hill, Neb., will be the next chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wisc.

Karsting, 47, will assume the job in September.

Karsting has 18 years of experience in Washington, D.C. His first job in the city came in 1985, when he went to work for Nebraska U.S. Sen. Jim Exon as a legislative assistant for agriculture and natural resources. At the time of Exon’s 1997 retirement, Karsting worked as a senior analyst for the Senate Budget Committee, which Exon chaired.

Karsting has been interested in politics for a long time. In 1984, he worked as a page in the Nebraska Legislature. He graduated a year later with a degree in agricultural economics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Since 2006, Karsting has served as Kohl’s deputy chief of staff.

“Phil cares deeply about the issues that affect the people of our state and brings a wealth of experience and policy expertise to his new position,” Kohl said in a press release issued Thursday.