Sasha Alexander plays presidential candidate Valerie Caldwell. Alexander originally played a US Secret Service agent guarding the president on Yankee White (2003) before becoming an NCIS agent.
Director Milena Govich had a starring role in season 17 of Law & Order (1990); in the season finale, "The Family Hour (2007)", Jeremy Sisto guest-starred as a defense lawyer, and joined the main cast as Detective Cyrus Lupo the following season.
Near the end of the show, O.A. quips "Did I ever tell you about Ricky Escalante?" O.A. then tells an story with an unusual ending about the baseball player to make an telling point to Maggie. This story line mimics the use of analogy in Frasier "The Good Son" (S1 E1), in which Roz quips "Ever heard of Lupe Vélez?" Roz then tells an story of the unusual death of the 1930's film star, making a telling point to Frasier.