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SALT LAKE CITY — A KSL reporter said goodbye Friday after taking a job as the communications director for congresswoman-elect Mia Love.
After 16 years, political specialist Richard Piatt is moving to Washington, D.C., to work with Love.
Piatt came to KSL after spending time at a television station in Boise.
Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Piatt went to school at Michigan State University and knew early on that he loved politics.
His career as a political reporter took off at KSL where he worked with people such as U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, current Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, former U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett, former U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson and current U.S. Representatives Mike Lee and Jason Chaffetz.
Piatt also worked with President George W. Bush, who flew into Salt Lake City on Air Force One, and he followed Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and other candidates during Republican and Democratic conventions as well as presidential races.
In 2011, he had heart surgery for failed heart valves. As much as he wanted to continue working, doctors advised him to get healthy first.
Piatt spent six weeks recovering, but never lost his sense of humor.
“It’s kind of hard to wrap my mind around what happened, because it was such a ... it’s not natural to have your heart ripped open,” Piatt said of the surgery in 2011.
Contributing: Megan Marsden Christensen