Cliff Treyens was communications director for the Ohio House Democratic Caucus during Ohio House Speaker Vern Riffe's final two terms in office. He continued to work with Riffe on his memoirs after his retirement and until his death in 1997. Prior to that, Treyens worked as communications director for Mississippi governor Ray Mabus (1988-91). A former journalist, Treyens was part of the Jackson, Mississippi, Clarion-Ledger reporting team that won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Public Service for coverage of education reform in Mississippi.