One of the most powerful lobbying groups, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), announced on Tuesday that Business Roundtable President John Castellani will become the group’s new leader.

Castellani joins PhRMA, which represents the country’s leading pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies, after nine years as the president and chief executive officer of the Business Roundtable, an association of CEOs from the top American corporations.

According to a Center for Responsive Politics review of campaign finance records, Castellani has given $60,000 to federal candidates, parties and committees since 1994. His wife, Therese, whose occupation is listed as retired in recent filings, has given an additional $5,500. Overall, 84 percent of their campaign contributions have benefited Republicans.

This election cycle, the Castellanis have contributed $18,900 to federal candidates, parties and committees. Just $1,000 of that went to a Democrat — Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), one of the most conservative members of the Democratic caucus.

Throwing his weight into the 2010 midterm elections, Castellani has donated $2,000 to Republican candidate Carly Fiorina, who is challenging incumbent Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and $2,400 to former Bush Cabinet official and former Rep. Rob Portman (R- Ohio.), who is running for an open Senate seat.

Castellani has also given $1,000 a piece to Rep. Michael Castle (R-Del.) and New Hampshire’s Republican Attorney General Kelly Ayotte, who are both running for open Senate seats.

Their top beneficiaries over the years have been Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), to whom the Castellanis have given $4,500 since 2007, and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), to whom they’ve given the same amount since 2001.

In 2006, Castellani donated $1,000 to the Republican National Committee. That same year, he donated $1,000 to the failed Senate campaign of Michael Steele, now the chairman of the RNC.

Castellani’s first known campaign contribution was $350 to the failed Senate bid of Ronna Romney, the sister-in-law of former Massachusetts governor and 2008 presidential candidate Mitt Romney. During the 2008 presidential campaign, the Castellanis gave $3,300 in support of Romney’s bid. Castellani also contributed $1,000 to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the ultimate GOP nominee.

After joining the Business Roundtable in 2001, the Castellanis rapidly increased their political contributions.

Castellani contributed only $2,000 to federal candidates, parties and committees during the 2002 election cycle. By the 2004 election cycle, that amount had nearly doubled to $10,000 — with both of the Castellanis giving $2,000 in support of President George W. Bush’s reelection efforts.

By the 2008 election cycle, that amount had doubled again, to $20,850, the Center found.

At PhRMA, Castellani will succeed Billy Tauzin, the notable Louisiana Democrat-turned-Republican congressman-turned-lobbyist.

Tauzin led PhRMA for five years, and he famously cut a multi-billion dollar deal with President Barack Obama that helped pave the way for Obama’s ambitious health care overhaul, to the chagrin of some corporations.

In Febuary, the New York Times suggested that Tauzin was leaving PhRMA “amid complaints from drug makers that he bargained away their profits too cheaply, spent too much in his $150 million advertising campaign to sell the overhaul and miscalculated in his assessment that the passage of the legislation was all but inevitable.”

Obama and congressional Democrats ultimately prevailed in passing their health insurance reform legislation, but public opinion significantly soured on the plan and Republicans across the country have proposed scaling it back or repealing it completely.

Under Castellani, the Business Roundtable was the second biggest business association lobbying the federal government for years — behind only the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The Financial Times has called the Business Roundtable “the most influential chief executive lobbying group in the United States.” In 2009, the Business Round table spent more than $13.4 million dollars on lobbying expenditures, and it spent more than $2.3 million on lobbying in the first three months of 2010.

PhRMA itself spent more than $26 million lobbying federal officials and lawmakers in 2009. The trade group is showing no signs of slowing either — spending more than $7 million in the first three months of 2010.

Furthermore, in the first quarter of 2010, PhRMA’s PAC has contributed more than $89,000 to federal candidates.

Castellani is viewed inside PhRMA as an apolitical pick who is lauded for navigating the Business Roundtable through the healthcare reform debates while building strong ties on both sides of the aisle, without alienating either party, Politico reports.

PhRMA stressed a similar message in their praise of Castellani.

“His experience in coalition building and strong reputation of working across the political divide set him apart,” David Brennan, president of drug company AstraZeneca and the head of PhRMA’s search committee said in a press release. “He will contribute mightily to our mission in a time of dynamic change.”

Center for Responsive Politics money-in-politics reporter Michael Beckel and researchers Douglas Weber and Carolyn Sharpe contributed to this report.



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