Fewer Democrats are coming off the Hill or out of the White House to pursue lobbying. | M.Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO Why Republicans still run K Street

Democrats control the White House and the Senate, but you wouldn’t know it by looking down K Street.

Republicans hold more than 30 of the 50 highest-profile, in-house lobbying jobs in town, a POLITICO analysis found. That doesn’t even include lobbying shops and law firms, which have long been Republican-dominated.


That means the biggest special influence players in Washington are relying more and spending big on a party that’s more on the outs than in, to make their case in the halls of Congress and to the White House.

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The reasons Republicans remain the kings on K Street vary. Some companies bet that Republicans would take back the Senate and the White House in 2012, beginning the process of scooping up talent months ahead of the election. There are also fewer Democrats coming off the Hill or out of the White House who want to pursue corporate lobbying.

But there’s a longer-term issue at play, too. The business world tends to hire more Republicans, anyway, since their beliefs align more closely with those of corporate clients, and potential Republican hires tend to have more corporate experience or a proven record leading an association or in-house team.

“There seems to be a philosophical and political bias against Democrats,” McCormick Group’s Ivan Adler said.

The trend has been on full display in many of the most recent big hires.

In the past year, Republicans have been snapping up plum positions: Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty got the CEO-level spot at the Financial Services Roundtable. Former Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl jumped to Covington & Burling. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson even decided to bolt early for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association — after winning reelection.

Other top moves: Former New York Republican Rep. Susan Molinari scored Google’s top lobbying spot; Republican Party operative Maria Cino joined HP; and former Mitt Romney operative Drew Maloney jumped to Hess Corp.

( Also on POLITICO: Jon Kyl joins Covington & Burling law firm)

And Republicans already lead many of Washington’s most high-profile groups — from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to the Business Roundtable to Ford Motor Co. to Home Depot.

To quantify the trend, POLITICO relied on the expertise of longtime lobbying reporters to compile a list of the most influential companies and trade groups. The analysis took into account association pay, amount spent on lobbying and the groups’ influence on the Hill. Party affiliation was determined through public records, employment history and interviews.

Former Rep. Billy Tauzin told POLITICO that Republicans may dominate downtown “because most associations are business groups, which have, generally speaking, a closer association with the Republican Party.”

Still, the Louisiana Democrat-turned-Republican said the role of top in-house talent is to rise above partisanship.

“I am now, I have been and I remain a loyal Republican, but the role of the trade association leaders is to maintain relationships with people who are willing and able to support your positions on either side of the aisle,” Tauzin said. The former PhRMA chief was replaced in 2010 by veteran trade association executive — and big Republican donor — John Castellani.

The bias toward hiring Republicans was on display over the past two years when corporations and trade groups continued to bet on Romney and Republican chances of taking back the Senate when making hiring decisions and in choosing to retain their top GOP talent.

With top-level jobs open at the American Wind Energy Association, the American Gaming Association and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, several K-Streeters have speculated that, despite Democrats keeping the White House and Senate, those jobs will still go to Republicans.

Their reasoning: In some cases, companies went ahead with Republican hiring decisions as the election results were closing in or even following Nov. 6, in the months leading up to Election Day. For instance, Maloney, a senior-level Romney operative who previously helped lead a top lobbying firm, scored a job leading Hess Corp.’s Washington operation.

Other hires, like Pawlenty’s by the FSR were months in the making, with an extensive hiring process led by an outside search firm.

The Republican, who regularly lambasted the financial services industry as a presidential candidate, made waves when he came on board just over a month before the November election.

FSR officials defend the decision to bring on Pawlenty.

Scott Talbott, senior vice president of public policy at FSR, warned against identifying trade groups too strongly by their leaders’ party affiliations.

“Gov. Pawlenty was a Republican governor in a blue state,” Talbott said. “What matters most is substance and knowledge and a bipartisan background,” Talbott said, adding that Pawlenty’s “knowledge of politics, his leadership skills and his bipartisan approach all were attractive.”

Veteran lobbyists say hiring practices are far less tied to party politics than during the so-called K Street Project, in which then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) helped lead an effort to install Republicans in many of the top trade associations.

“That’s a dynamic that had a moment in time where it was very real but doesn’t exist in the same way today,” said Heather Podesta of Heather Podesta+Partners. “I find that there is a whole lot less emphasis placed on what the party affiliation of a corporate office or trade association is these days.”

And it’s not that Democrats don’t get the interview. Several senior Democrats said they had been up for top jobs, only to be passed over for Republicans. Many Democrats are hired instead to be the No. 2 lobbyist in the shop, giving associations and companies plenty of political cover on Capitol Hill.

There are also many industries — such as oil, financial services and health care — that a significant number of Democrats are unwilling to represent. It’s not unheard-of for companies like ExxonMobil to wait months before finding a Democrat who is the right fit for a senior-level job.

Democrats leaving the Obama White House have also been more reluctant than previous administrations of either party to join the influence-peddling ranks.

“There doesn’t seem as big of a desire to work for business and corporate offices as the last administration,” Adler said.

Veteran Republican Frank Fahrenkopf said personal relationships and the scope of each group’s work matter more than partisan affiliation.

“For example, if you talk to Jack [Gerard], who runs the Petroleum Institute, or you talk to Tom [Donohue] over at the Chamber of Commerce or you talk to John [Castellani] over at PhRMA, their issues are national issues and therefore they’re going to be in touch with the White House as well as congressional leadership. But I have very little contact — most of my contacts are with legislative leaders of both political parties rather than the White House,” Fahrenkopf said. All three trade association executives Fahrenkopf cited are Republicans.

Fahrenkopf, who is stepping down from the American Gaming Association after 18 years, said he is close to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) despite their different political affiliations. Reid, a significant backer of the gaming industry, and Fahrenkopf played state championship high school baseball against each other in Nevada in 1956, Fahrenkopf said.

“Even though we’re in opposite political parties, we’ve always had a very warm personal relationship,” Fahrenkopf said.

“I think all of it is about personal relationships. With the leadership, particularly, you get to know them. If you’re running a trade association, you’re only as good as your word and the leaders of both parties have to trust you, and if you gain that trust, your word is your bond and you will succeed regardless of whether they’re Republican or Democrat.”

Of course, it’s not just Republicans downtown. South Korean electronics giant Samsung picked Joel Wiginton, a former Clinton administration official, who had spent the past 12 years at Sony, to open up its Washington offices.

Other companies, like Wal-Mart, have bucked the trend. The giant retailer, which has long been close to congressional Republicans, brought on Democrat Ivan Zapien to helm its Washington operation about five years ago.

Dan Turton, a former Obama White House liaison to the House of Representatives, has also returned to K Street. Turton leads Entergy’s Washington operation.

Still, with few Democrats in the No. 1 slot — it’s also turned into a boon for some Democratic hired guns. Firms like Elmendorf Ryan and Heather Podesta+Partners have grown in double digits in recent years as companies look to cover their bases with the White House and Congress.

“We’re a pro-business Democratic firm, and we explain business to Democrats and Democrats to business. And we’re really good at it,” Podesta said of her firm’s success.