The list of Ryan's K Street confidants reads like a who’s who of downtowners. | REUTERS Ryan's got plenty of friends on K St.

Paul Ryan is no stranger to K Street.

The Wisconsin Republican and his wife, Janna, both worked on Capitol Hill and have long-standing relationships with several staffers-turned-lobbyists and veteran influence peddlers.


“They’ve got a lot of friends in D.C.,” Gloria Dittus of Story Partners told POLITICO.

Dittus, a veteran downtown strategist who attended their wedding, said she got to know the pair when Janna Ryan worked for Rep. Bill Brewster (D-Okla.). Janna later worked as a lobbyist with PriceWaterhouseCooper’s lobbying arm and Williams & Jensen before leaving Washington, D.C., for Wisconsin.

“They are great people. She is rocket smart and he’s rocket smart. Big brains, small town values,” she said.

The list of the Ryans’ K Street confidants reads like a who’s who of downtowners, including Marc Neuman with Limited; Kent Knutson of Home Depot and his wife Karen, who formerly worked for Vice President Dick Cheney; Missy Edwards of Missy Edwards Strategies; and Sean O’Halloran of Honeywell. Andy Dobson of Bockorny Group; Nick Lewis of UPS; Colin Chapman of Chapman Capitol Consulting; Graham Hill of Miller Ice Strategies; and Alan Sobba of the International Derivatives Clearing Group, are also close to the couple.

Ryan’s also got long-standing connections with former Ohio Rep. Mike Oxley, who is now a lobbyist for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

While their friendships downtown are deep, the list of Ryan’s staff going downtown is small — just a fewer junior staffers like Paul Eiting, former legislative correspondent, now at America’s Health Insurance Plans, Matt Lavoie, former Ryan press secretary, now at the National Association of Manufacturers, and Brendan Weiss, a former aide, who is at NYSE Euronext, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

SNR Denton’s Kelly Lugar, who knew Ryan’s wife through a Texas high school connection, became close friends with her in the mid-1990s.

“He did what he set out to do and he’s done a great job, but they haven’t lost their small town roots,” Lugar said of the Ryans. “She still goes back to Oklahoma so much and is still so close to her family.”

Kent Knutson of Home Depot said Ryan hadn’t changed at all since he first met him while working on the Senate Small Business Committee when Sen. Bob Kasten (Wis.) served as ranking member.

“He’s smart, incredibly hard working, funny, dedicated, loyal, bold,” Knutson said in describing Ryan.