Drew Wilson
Floridian Partners pulled in $1.1 million in lobbying pay last quarter, according to newly filed compensation reports.
Managing Partner Charlie Dudley and lobbyists Jorge Chamizo, George Feijoo, Nichole Geary, Cory Guzzo, Gary Guzzo, and Melissa Ramba earned an estimated $665,000 lobbying the Legislature and tacked on another $395,000 lobbying the executive branch.
Florida Politics estimates lobbying pay based on the middle number of the per-client ranges firms list on their compensation reports. Contracts are reported in $10,000 increments up to $50,000.
The team handled 50 paid contracts during the July through September reporting period, with John Deere being the most lucrative at $45,000.
While it’s hard to miss the company’s consumer lawnmower line when swinging by Home Depot in the summer, the nearly 200-year-old company is one of the biggest manufacturers of massive machinery — the kind that rival the size of a row house. In 2020, it ranked as the No. 84 largest company in the U.S. with nearly $40 billion in revenue.
Three Florida-grown operations followed on Floridian Partners’ report: Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida Internet & Television, and the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
Though the Tribe went on a lobbyist hiring spree during the Special Session to approve the new Gaming Compact, they’ve had the Floridian Partners team on retainer since the mid-2010s. The Tribe, FGCU and Florida Internet & Television each paid $35,000 for legislative lobbying last quarter.
Other major companies on the list include Anheuser Busch, HP, Liberty Mutual Group, U.S. Sugar and Duke Energy Corporation, which made headlines earlier this week when it entered into a cooperation agreement with Elliott Investment Management after several months of dialogue.
On the executive side, five contracts split the No. 1 spot: Centene Corporation, MAXIMUS, FGCU, Milliman and the National Council on Compensation Insurance each paid Floridian Partners $25,000 for help in the executive branch last quarter.
Lobbying disclosure rules also require firms to disclose their overall earnings. Floridian Partners’ reports claim earnings between $500,000 and $1 million in the Legislature and between $250,000 and $500,000 in the executive branch.
Though the ranges are broad, they are an accurate measure of the earnings floor and ceiling. In Floridian Partners’ case, the Q3 rake was $750,000 minimum and $1.5 million at the top end.
Floridian Partners’ median earnings estimate — and the overall pay range — have remained steady throughout the pandemic era. The firm also earned an estimated $1.1 million in the first and second quarters, setting them up for a $4.4 million annual haul.
Florida lobbyists and lobbying firms faced a Nov. 14 deadline to file compensation reports for the period covering July 1 through Sept. 30. Compensation reports for the fourth quarter are due to the state on Feb. 14.
