Harry Reid wasn’t just a giant in Nevada politics, he was a hub of the lobbying industry. He’s got 34 former aides in Open Secrets’ revolving door database, putting him in third place among current office-holders.
Throughout K Street, lobbyists and consultants are making bank and enriching their clients on the strength of their connections to the Democratic leader (who has a history of being transactional with policymaking). When Reid is gone in two years — already now that he is a lame duck — close ties to him become much less valuable. That’s bad news for Reid’s K Street contingent and their clients.
Here are some of the biggest losers of Reid’s retirement:
Reid’s Son-in-Law Steven Barringer
Barringer, at K Street firm Holland & Hart, inked a decent contract with the largest gold-mining company in America, Barrick Gold to lobby against the sage grouse, an endangered bird.
Barrick Gold has bigger lobbying weapons on K Street, and so Reid’s departure should mostly be considered a loss for Barringer and his firm. Throughout his K Street career, Barringer has had plenty of clients who were very close to Reid, such at the American Gaming Association, Quest Nevada, the city of Henderson Nevada, and other Nevada interests.
With Reid no longer looming over them, will these clients feel compelled to hire Barringer?
Cassidy & Associates lobbying firm
The firm openly markets its ties to Reid and his SuperPAC. Cassidy lobbyist Rebecca Lambe worked on Reid’s 2010 election and was the treasurer of Reid’s Senate Majority PAC, the largest member-run Super PAC in the 2014 election. Huffington Post reported a month ago on how Cassidy sold Lambe to potential clients:
And just think of all the money Cassidy folks wasted pouring it into Reid’s Senate Majority PAC (Gerald Cassidy contributed $50,000 last election) — all that goodwill purchased, is now worth nothing.
Kai Anderson, a former Reid chief of staff, is also at Cassidy, and lobbied on the sage grouse, too.
The Casino Industry
“Waking up to the defeat of Harry Reid … would be devastating to our industry’s future.”
That’s what a Harrah’s executive wrote while trying to organize an operation to bus casino employees to the polls in 2010.
On the plus side for the industry, they may not have to pay so much tribute to Cassidy, Elmendorf Ryan and Barringer.
