HELENA -- Republican Secretary of State-elect Brad Johnson on Wednesday named his leadership team, reaching into the administration of departing Gov. Judy Martz for four of the nine members.

Johnson also appointed two of his campaign staff workers, retained one of current Republican Secretary of State Bob Brown's staff and hired one person who worked on Brown's unsuccessful campaign for governor. He hired as his chief legal counsel someone who held the post under the late Secretary of State Jim Waltermire in the 1980s.

These appointments are for exempt positions in the office. Each state elected official is able to hire a certain number of exempt employees. Those holding these posts will serve at Johnson's pleasure and are not part of the permanent workforce in the office who retain their jobs when a new elected official takes office. Most exempt employees are replaced when a new elected official takes office. The secretary of state's office has about 50 full-time employees, counting both exempt and permanent staff.

Johnson, who is from Bozeman, will take over as secretary of state on Jan. 3. He defeated Democrat Bill Kennedy of Billings to win the secretary of state's post.

Martz administration officials who will serve on Johnson's staff are:

- Mark Simonich, now state commerce director, will become Johnson's chief policy adviser. He previously served as state environmental quality director under Gov. Marc Racicot and worked on the staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. His annual salary will be $70,000.

- Susan Ames, now boards and commissions adviser to Martz, will become Johnson's executive assistant. She formerly worked as an assistant to top Republican legislative leaders. She will work three-fourths time for a salary of $35,000 a year.

- Lynn Staley, Martz's appointments scheduler, will become executive scheduler for Johnson. She held administrative posts under legislative leaders and has owned her own secretarial and court reporting business. Her annual salary: $40,000.

- Jean Branscum, Martz's policy adviser for health, human services and corrections, will become Johnson's administrative rules deputy. She formerly worked as public information officer in the state Labor Department. She will work 85 percent of a full-time job and her annual salary will be $42,000.

Those from Johnson's campaign staff who will move to the secretary of state's office are:

- Mike O'Brien, who was Johnson's campaign manager, will be chief deputy. He has worked on a U.S. Senate race and a ballot issue campaign and served as an aide to the speaker of the Montana House. His annual salary: $56,000.

- Bob Garner, Johnson's communications director in three statewide campaigns, will be communications director in the secretary of state's office. Garner has been involved in journalism and public information jobs in various capacities for 45 years and was a reporter for the U.S. Army in Vietnam during the early 1960s. His annual salary: $50,000.

The new secretary of state hired Elwood English, a Billings attorney, as his chief legal counsel. English previously held the same post in the office under Waltermire. English, a former Yellowstone County commissioner, is adjunct professor of business law at Montana State University-Billings. His annual salary: $50,000.

Johnson retained one person from Brown's exempt staff, Elaine Gravely, chief election deputy. Gravely will hold the same post under Johnson and is responsible for training local election officials and seeing that state election laws are uniformly implemented around Montana. She was former county election administrator from Broadwater County. Her annual salary: $48,000.

In addition, Johnson named Charles Robison, deputy director of Brown's campaign, as deputy to oversee the implementation of the Help America Vote Act. His annual salary: $44,000.