Despite many close races in the 2014 Mid -Term Elections, Republicans have exceeded expectations. The GOP has become the majority party in the Senate with 52 out of 100 seats and added cushioning to their control of the House with 243 out of 435 seats so far. The Republican Party will seek to increase its control of the Senate on December 6th, when a run-off vote is scheduled for the Louisiana Senate race between Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA).
The competitiveness of many of the elections, POLITICO reports, drove some candidates, such as (then) Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), to enact an “all hands on deck” approach for the final stages of the campaign, reaching out to his extended network of allies and former staffers seeking as many volunteers as possible. Many of the people who answered Sen. McConnell’s call to volunteer, such as Hunter Bates, are former members of Sen. McConnell’s staff and are now lobbyists. Mr. Bates was formerly Chief of Staff to Sen. McConnell before co-founding the lobbying firm Republic Consulting.
Nevertheless, the effect the resounding GOP victory in this election will have on the lobbying industry remains to be seen. However, lobbyists with ties to prominent Republicans, like Steve Clark (founding partner at Clark, Geduldig, Cranford & Nielsen), are very optimistic about the future, saying “If the Republicans take the Senate in November, we feel like our firm, with key House and Senate ties, is as well-positioned as any.”
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Tags: Mary Landrieu, Mitch MCConnell, Steve Clark
