20+ years

Current member of the Dean's Advisory Council for the La State University School of Veterinary Medicine

Member of Council for a Better Louisiana (CABL) - A Non-Paritsan Policy Group

Sigma Nu Alumni Association

Former Member-Governor's DWI Task Force

Eric M. Sunstrom has had a distinguished career communicating complex issues to public officials; first as an in-house government affairs executive and most recently as the head of a successful lobbying firm. Eric's career began in local lobbying as the first ever director of governmental affairs for the St. Tammany Home Builders Association. From there he was hired as the Louisiana Restaurant Association's VP of government affairs.

His experience in the halls of the legislature made for an easy transition to contract lobbying and public relations. Eric launched The Chesapeake Group in 2004 bringing his expertise to a wider range of clients, designing and implementing programs to promote legislative and regulatory initiatives on their behalf. Since that time he has advocated issues from industry-supported fee increases, tax cuts and pro-business legislation. Currently, Eric serves as President of The Chesapeake Group, coordinating the legislative agenda for a number of clients. Mr. Sunstrom was recently appointed to the LSU School of Vetinary Medicine Dean's Advisory Council. He is a former member of the Governor's DWI Task Force, and the Hunting and Fishing Advisory Education Council.

Eric is a native of Baltimore, Md and attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La where he received a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science. He resides in Baton Rouge with his wife Meg and their Doberman, Copper.

20+ years

Former Nebraska State Senator
Served as:
Chairman of Judiciary Committee
Vice-Chairman of the Executive Board
Served on the following committees:
Banking, Commerce and Insurance
Government, Military and Veterans Affairs
Business and Labor
Agriculture

John joined the O'Hara Lindsay in 1997 and became president in 2008 when Paul O'Hara retired.

Prior to becoming a lobbyist, John served as a Nebraska state senator for two terms representing Omaha's 9th legislative district. While there, his colleagues chose him to chair the Judiciary Committee and before that Vice-Chair of the Executive Board.

He practiced law in Omaha for 13 years, starting out with his father and older brother. John clerked for the Honorable John Grant at the Nebraska Supreme Court for a year after law school.

John was born and raised in Omaha. John and his wife, Mary Beth, are the parents of four boys, John, Patrick, Bobby and David. John, a big fan of Little League baseball, coached for a number of years. John's great-grandfather, John B. Furay, was a member of Nebraska's first legislature in 1869. That may explain why it seems that John has politics in his blood!

20+ years

The only lobbyist named as a Winner of the 2022 Maryland General Assembly Session by Maryland Matters.

"a well-connected Annapolis lobbyist," The Washington Post

President, Maryland Government Relations Association, 2013-2015

Named a Top-Rated Government Relations Attorney by Super Lawyers

Glad to respond to specific inquiries.

Leonard L. Lucchi is a registered lobbyist who represents business owners, trade groups, and local governments before the Maryland General Assembly and the United States Congress. Mr. Lucchi's scope of representation includes lobbying, tracking pending or proposed legislative activities and analyzing the effects of those pieces of legislation on client matters, drafting legislation, organizing and mobilizing coalitions in support or opposition to pending or proposed legislation, effectively utilizing media outlets to support client initiatives, and testifying on behalf of clients before various legislative committees.

During his thirty years as a legislative advocate, Mr. Lucchi has helped to shape legislation on behalf of his business and corporate clients that creates or enhances the marketplace for their goods and services. For example, Mr. Lucchi persuaded the Maryland General Assembly to pass a law requiring the installation of carbon-monoxide detectors in new residential construction. The passage of this bill created a new market for his client, a major manufacturer of carbon monoxide detectors. In addition to his representation of business owners, Mr. Lucchi has represented trade groups such as solar power manufacturers, mobile home park owners, and food delivery franchisees and has helped to guide them through the legislative process.

Mr. Lucchi has also proven himself to be an accomplished advocate for County and City governments. As a former Director of Legislative Affairs for the Prince George's County Government, Mr. Lucchi is experienced in planning, managing, and implementing a legislative agenda with elected and appointed officials. In that position, Mr. Lucchi represented various County departments and agencies in order to advance their legislative goals. Mr. Lucchi is also the former County Attorney for Prince George's County, and he utilizes his hands-on local government experience to advise and implement resourceful legislative plans for his clients. Additionally, he served as the County's Chief Labor Negotiator.

Mr. Lucchi serves as counsel to the Redevelopment Authority for Prince George's County, the Board of Education for Prince George's County, and the Democratic Central Committee for Prince George's County.

Mr. Lucchi served as the President of the Maryland Government Relations Association and President of the Greater Bowie Chamber of Commerce. He served two terms on the Board of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Lucchi is admitted to practice in Maryland, the District of Columbia, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mr. Lucchi enjoys giving back to his community by serving on the Board of Community Youth Advance and the L.E.A.R.N. Foundation.

15-20 years

Mike founded Drexwood Partners LLC with the mission to merge government affairs with a business savvy approach. By drawing upon his nearly 15 years of experience in government and politics combined with 10 years of experience in finance and real estate, Mike is able to provide a unique perspective to his clients. As a registered lobbyist he works with government officials at the state, county and city level navigating the process to solve problems and achieve the desired results for his clients.

Prior to founding Drexwood, Mike served as executive vice president at All-Circo, Inc, a full service government affairs and lobbying firm. There he handled the needs of over 60 clients ranging from fortune 500 companies and small businesses to units of government, non-profits and associations across all sectors and issues. In addition to helping clients with their legislative and administrative goals, he provided counsel in regards to appropriations, regulation, procurement, and coalition development.

Mike was previously vice president at Chicago-based real estate development firm The Prime Group. Serving as a member of the capital markets group, he provided financial analysis, budgeting, and due diligence on real estate transactions as well as helped facilitate $400 million in financing for the JW Marriott mixed use development on LaSalle Street. He began his career in New York with Jefferies & Company on the institutional trading desk, providing sales trading coverage for corporate accounts and hedge funds.

Mike received a B.S. in Finance from Santa Clara University in 1998. He resides in Chicago with his wife, Liz, and two daughters.

Regularly engaged in the highest-level budget and policy negotiations from within the innermost circles of Massachusetts state government

Worked closely with then-Chairman DeLeo to pass four state budgets, multiple bond bills and major pieces of legislation including health care reform and clean energy initiatives.

Responsible for shaping the House legislative agenda, overseeing its execution and strategically advising the Speaker through high-stakes negotiations

Works closely with all parties including the Senate President and Governor, majority and minority legislative leadership, chairs and cabinet officials.

Policy Advisor at Preti Strategies

Chief of Staff and Chief Policy Advisor to Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

Chief of Staff and Press Secretary to House Committee on Ways and Means

Chief of Staff and Press Secretary to House Committee on Bills in the Third Reading

Education:

Suffolk Law School
Hamilton College
Belmont Hill
The Fessenden School

6-10 years

WV Kids Count Board of Directors, WV Community Action Partnership Board of Directors, 15+ years of non-profit work, 10+ years of legislative experience.

I served as a budget and policy analyst for the Speaker and Majority Leader of the West Virginia House of Delegates, and the House Finance Committee. I also served as a research analyst for several joint legislative committees, including the Joint Committee on Government and Finance. I served as a policy/budget advisor to the House of Delegates Minority Office. I provided advice, account management analysis and development of public policy relating to the state budget, public education, education and the arts, health, human services, energy, commerce, tourism, and other policy issues. I gave guidance and oversight on legislative rules, and proposed legislation for consistency with the legislative budget and proposed policies. I served on the House of Delegates Redistricting Committee, House of Delegates/Senate Budget Conference Committee. In addition, I served as director of legislative services for the Department of Health and Human Resources and as senior policy analyst in the Office of the Governor.

Melanie has 15 + years of working in Executive/Leadership capacities with nonprofits and government relations industry. Ares of specialties include Politics, Policy Analysis and Development, Legislative Bill Tracking and Rule Making Process, Government Budgeting, Direct Lobbying, Event Planning, Nonprofit Management, Negotiations, Association Management, and Government Procurement.

Melanie is a strong professional with a Master of Arts (M.A.) from Marshall University and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) from Fairmont State University

6-10 years

Paul joined Drexwood Partners in 2019 bringing 10 years of professional experience with him, including a half decade handling multi-state government affairs and running a U.S. government affairs operation for a multi-national company.

Adept at handling complex public policy issues, Paul began his early professional days working as a litigation paralegal for multiple law firms and working as a field organizer on a national campaign. To begin his government affairs career, Paul spent a short time in Washington D.C. working for a child welfare non-profit conducting policy research and organizing advocacy days.

Prior to joining Drexwood as Vice President, Paul served as Director of Government Relations for a publicly-traded company where he led U.S. federal and state government affairs for multiple business segments. While there he executed federal and multi-state government affairs strategies to support organizational goals across six businesses. This included managing federal appropriation and jurisdictional committee advocacy, a fifty state legislative tracking operation, and direct and indirect lobbying in over half a dozen states across the country. In addition to traditional government affairs work, Paul led the first company-wide global political risk assessment due to international expansion and re-designed the internal government affairs approach to also focus on brand development for business segments that found more value in an elevated presence among government officials.

With a broad range of policy experience in agriculture, education (Pre-K through postsecondary), child welfare, healthcare, insurance, and tech fields, Paul is prepared to tackle new and complex issues quickly to deliver results. He is passionate about government affairs — from traditional lobbying and strategy development to advocacy, coalition building, and policy research.

A native of mid-Missouri, Paul holds a M.A. in Political Science from University of Missouri, Kansas City and a B.A. in Pre-Law/Legal Studies from William Woods University in Fulton, Missouri. He currently lives in Chicago, Illinois with his wife and two sons.

DAVID A. SMITH is a partner in the Princeton Public Affairs Group, is a veteran of the public affairs arena and has successfully managed public affairs campaigns impacting auto insurance, life insurance, tort reform and environmental legislative initiatives. Mr. Smith received national acclaim when he was honored with a ""Pollie Award"" by the American Association of Political Consultants and named to their United States ""Public Affairs Team of the Year." Mr. Smith was also named one of the most influential players in New Jersey's Healthcare arena by the Annual HealthSense Listing. Since 2005, Mr. Smith has been a Commissioner on the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission (nominated by the Governor for two separate four year terms and confirmed by the NJ Senate) and currently serves as an Officer on the Commission (Secretary). Mr. Smith serves on the National Board of Directors of the Public Affairs Council, and was one of the few contract lobbyists in the Country to be appointed to a National Task Force charged with creating ethical standard for lobbyists throughout the United States. Mr. Smith is a founder and member of the Board of Directors of ProtectingAmerica.org, an advocacy organization Co-chaired by James Lee Witt, former Cabinet member under President Clinton and Admiral James Loy, Deputy Director of Homeland Security under President Bush. Mr. Smith also serves as an Officer (1st Vice President) of the New Jersey Hall of Fame Foundation Board of Directors and also serves on the Executive Committee (Secretary) of The Advocacy Group (TAG). Finally, Mr. Smith serves on the Board of Directors as an officer (Treasurer) of the State Capitol Insurance Company RRG, the first professional liability company for lobbyists headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Mr. Smith has appeared on television and radio stations representing clients' interests, authored dozens of articles on politics/policy issues in New Jersey and is a frequent guest speaker/lecturer at national and state conferences, legislative hearings, meetings and seminars. He has been a consultant to statewide and legislative political campaigns and is a member of the Executive Finance Committee of the Assembly Democratic Leadership Committee as well as the New Jersey State Democratic Committee. Prior to joining the firm in 1995, Mr. Smith served as Director of Policy and Planning for the New Jersey General Assembly Democratic Office. In that capacity, Mr. Smith supervised the partisan staff of all Assembly Committees and Task Forces while serving as senior staff aide to the insurance and commerce legislative committees. He was a Director with the New Jersey Dental Association from 1985 to 1990 and served on several national and state health care and insurance advisory committees.

Mr. Smith was awarded a Master of Science in Financial Services (MSFS) Degree from the Richard D. Irwin Graduate School of The American College. He is a Graduate Fellow of the Public Affairs Institute, a three year educational program of the Public Affairs Council located in Washington, DC. Mr. Smith also graduated with a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Political Science from Gettysburg College.

20+ years

FRANCIS X. MCMAHON, ESQ., the founder and president of Advocacy Solutions, has deep expertise in ally development, grassroots and grasstops coalition building, strategic communications management, and online advocacy for clients in a wide range of industries including healthcare, telecommunications, energy, and transportation.

Over the course of his career, Frank has been a key staff member and advisor on many winning political and issue campaigns. He served as Special Counsel and Deputy Chief of Staff to Rhode Island Governor Bruce Sundlun and has led campaigns for Honda Motor Corporation, Verizon, and National Grid.

An avid Friar basketball fan, Frank is a graduate of Providence College, Suffolk University Law School, and a member of the Rhode Island State and Federal Bar Association.

Helped lead $1.7B agency including management, budget, technology, procurement and legislative affairs at MBTA

Led multiple technology upgrades at MBTA that resulted in a significant leap forward innovation at the agency, also became very proficient in state procurement processes and rules

Helped develop and coordinate strategy to consolidate functions of six transportation departments as Legislative Director at MassDOT

Routinely worked with staff and vendors on hundreds of millions of dollars in road and bridge projects annually

Responsible for writing and tracking all legislation and budget matters for Asst. Minority Leader

Policy Advisor at Preti Strategies

Chief of Staff, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority

Legislative Director, MassDOT

Chief of Staff, Massachusetts Highway Department

Chief of Staff and Legislative Director, Assistant Minority Leader, Massachusetts Senate


Education:

University of Massachusetts

11-15 years

15-20 years

With deep ties to Louisiana's political landscape, we bring a local perspective, but engage across state lines to help clients broaden their services across the nation.