Democratic Lobbyists of Color Launch Firm with Republicans

Four Democratic lobbyists of color have united with GOP strategists to launch a new firm: United by Interest. Michael Williams of the Williams Group, David Morgan of D. Morgan & Partners, Jennifer Stewart of Stewart Strategies & Solutions, and Joe Velásquez have struck an informal alliance with alumni from Republican lobby shop CGCN. Former CGCN Partner Sam Geduldig and fellow Republican Jim Terry of TDS Public Affairs will join the group, making four of the six partners people of color; all of them will continue to work at their existing firms as well as United by Interest. The idea behind the new firm is that the constituents of members of Congress who represent the poorest congressional districts have a lot in common, whether their representatives are Democrats who belong to the Congressional Black Caucus or Congressional Hispanic Caucus, or conservative Republicans allied with the House Freedom Caucus. And those common interests create opportunities for lobbyists to build unorthodox coalitions. More about the firm here.