Team Category: State and Local Advocacy

Julia Canady King

Julia Canady King serves as a Vice President for Washington and Florida for BGR Group. With a background in state government policy management, particularly in Florida, Julia assists BGR clients with building advocacy strategies to help them achieve their legislative objectives.

Prior to joining BGR, Julia served as Government Affairs Manager for the Outdoor Hospitality Industry. In this role she represented priorities at the state and federal level for outdoor brands and hospitality groups. She coordinated with 50 state level associations on state legislative priorities and coalition efforts, led congressional outreach and strategy at the federal level, and managed public affairs efforts and subsequent grassroots campaigns on issues ranging from seasonal labor to tax issues.

Julia also served as the Federal Affairs Coordinator for the Office of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Office of Federal Relations & Intergovernmental Affairs. In this role, she served as a liaison between the federal government and Gov. DeSantis’s Office of Policy and Budget. She was responsible for briefing staff across eight policy units on all federal policy issues, assisting in the development of policy initiatives, and advising on issues with a federal government nexus. She also assisted with communication and outreach to offices within the Florida Congressional Delegation and served as a point of contact for the Office of Policy and Budget on federally declared emergencies, with a particular focus on hurricane response and disaster supplemental funding.

Julia also served as a Gubernatorial Fellow in Gov. DeSantis’ Tallahassee and D.C. offices, where she functioned as a liaison to the Office of Policy and Budget for federal rulemaking process and connected Washington-based experts with Tallahassee-based policy units. Julia also facilitated Hurricane Ian rapid response and ongoing recovery efforts and served as the primary policy analyst on state redistricting, covering state legislative committees.

Prior to joining Gov. DeSantis’s office, Julia worked with Heritage Action for America in support of data collection and advocacy efforts connected with the Virginia gubernatorial race in 2021.

Julia is a native Floridian and a graduate of the University of Florida and the Florida State University College of Law.

Nick Iarossi

Nick Iarossi is a Managing Director with BGR Group. He helps clients navigate political and policy challenges at the local, state and federal levels.  

A founding member of Florida-based Capital City Consulting, Nick has been a leading advocate for over 20 years. He was recognized by Influence Magazine as one of the top 100 Most Influential People in Florida, a member of The News Service of Florida’s Power 100, and the most influential lobbyist in the State of Florida according to The Florida Standard.  

Nick is considered the best in his field representing a diverse client base in sectors such as: financial services, insurance, environmental, gaming, retail, education, information technology, and procurement. Throughout his career, Nick successfully lobbied for countless pieces of legislation on behalf of his clients and secured billions of dollars in legislative appropriations. Furthermore, Nick is often relied on by clients to assist on various public affairs efforts such as crisis management, message development, ballot initiatives and political branding. 

Nick is active politically and a prolific fundraiser who has served in leadership positions on several national and state campaigns. Most recently, Nick raised money for the Trump 47 Campaign and supporting committees. Prior to that, Nick served as the National Finance Co-Chair for the DeSantis for President Campaign. In 2016, he served on the Marco Rubio for President National Finance Committee.   Additionally, Nick served as the Inaugural Co-Chair and Inaugural Finance Chair for both of Governor Ron DeSantis’ inaugurations for Governor, and on both Inaugural Committees of Governor Rick Scott.   

In 2023, along with BGR Group and other nationally leading public affairs firms, Nick and his Capital City Consulting partners helped found Advocus Partners, a bipartisan, national, public affairs firm that provides comprehensive and integrated government advocacy and advisory services for every level of government in all regions of the country. 

Before starting Capital City Consulting, Nick practiced law and government affairs at a prominent Florida law firm after working in the Senate Majority Office and Office of Insurance Regulation. Nick graduated from Florida State University with honors, where he served as student body president and also received his JD from Florida State University Law School.  He is a member of the Seminole Boosters Board of Directors and served on the university’s Presidential Search Advisory Committee.  

Nick enjoys giving back by mentoring students, supporting the March of Dimes, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and many other charities.

Anna Reese Couhig

Anna Reese Couhig is a Policy Analyst in the State and Local Advocacy and Appropriations practices at BGR Group. In this role, she supports clients on a variety of policy issues by conducting research and analysis, providing regular legislative updates, developing briefing materials and reports, and drafting correspondence. Anna Reese also plays a key role in coordinating congressional meetings, assisting with fly-ins, and performing administrative duties in relation to advocacy efforts. 

Prior to joining BGR Group, Anna Reese interned with Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) and worked on a variety of Democratic congressional campaigns. Anna Reese graduated from the University of Mississippi in 2023 with a B.A. in public policy leadership and a B.A. in English with an emphasis in literature, justice, and society. While at Ole Miss, Anna Reese served as Senior Class Vice President, Chief of Staff for TEDxUniversityofMississippi, and as an ambassador for the university’s English department. Additionally, Anna Reese graduated as a member of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College after the successful defense of her thesis examining student perceptions of COVID-19 mitigation strategies and correlation to demographics.

Originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Anna Reese joined BGR Group as a clerk and researcher after moving to Washington, D.C. in August 2023.

Labriah Lee Holt

Labriah Lee Holt joined BGR in October 2023. She serves as a Vice President with the State and Local Advocacy Practice and Director of the firm’s Atlanta office. Her role capitalizes on her vast experience in bipartisan advocacy and law, where she has established strong connections with Democratic policy makers nationwide.  Labriah helps clients strategize policy campaigns that advance their objectives and advances the firm’s outreach to Democratic governors, mayors and attorneys general.

Prior to joining BGR, Labriah was State Government Affairs Director for Microsoft. In this capacity, she spearheaded initiatives across the southeast, engaging with state and local officials on key issues such as artificial intelligence, datacenter expansion, cybersecurity, privacy, education, and broadband access. Her adeptness in partner engagement also saw her play a pivotal role in fostering relationships with entities like the United States Conference of Mayors, Attorneys General Associations, and the African American Mayors Association’s Business Council.

Before her tenure at Microsoft, from 2013-2021, Labriah served as the Northeast Regional Director of Outreach, and subsequently a National Director of Political Outreach, for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Her efforts in these positions involved leading political coalition building and practice at the federal, state and local levels to propel bipartisan policy forward. Her dedication and policy advancement garnered recognition from the New York State Assembly and a Congressional Proclamation from Congressman Charles Rangel.

Labriah’s professional journey began at Alston & Bird LLP in Atlanta, GA, as a Senior Associate specializing in intellectual property. She provided counsel to Fortune 100 companies and nonprofit organizations on patents, trademarks, copyright, social media, and brand protection. She served on the boards for the Black Women’s Health Imperative and as Vice Chair for the Harvard Debate Council Diversity Project.  She is a former member of the Anit-Defamation League’s Charles F. Wittenstein Advisory Committee, the Atlanta Citizen Review Board, and Gen 44 Atlanta Finance Committee for the DNC.

Keiffer J. Mitchell, Jr.

Keiffer J. Mitchell, Jr., serves as a Vice President in BGR’s State and Local Advocacy Practice. Keiffer helps clients navigate issues at the state and local level and shares his unique, bipartisan perspective as a former aide to a Republican governor, an elected Democratic State Delegate, and a former Baltimore City Councilman. He leads the firm’s work for clients in Maryland, particularly in Baltimore and Annapolis, navigating the Executive Branch, the General Assembly, and mayors across the state.

Keiffer served in various roles for eight years under state Maryland Governor Larry Hogan including Acting Chief of Staff, Chief Legislative Officer and Senior Counsel, and Senior Advisor. He worked with Governor Hogan and cabinet agencies to prioritize policy issues as well as to advance budgets and the legislative priorities before the Maryland General Assembly. He also acted as the Governor’s chief negotiator with the General Assembly leadership and drive consensus on critical issues including allocating American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. Additionally, Keiffer was involved in advancing Governor Hogan’s signature issues including the Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-Tech) Program, education, cybersecurity, broadband deployment, and infrastructure policies.

From 2011 to 2015, Keiffer served as an elected member of the Maryland House of Delegates where he served on the Judiciary Committee, the Economic Matters Committee, and the Baltimore Regional Revitalization Task Force. He previously served on the Baltimore City Council from 1995 to 2007. As a city councilman, Keiffer was Chairman of the Taxation Committee and Education Committee. In addition to his public service, Keiffer also taught middle and high school history at his alma mater Boys’ Latin School and coached basketball and tennis.

Currently, Keiffer serves on the Board of Directors at the Maryland Center for History & Culture, Maryland Government Relations Association, and The Signal 13 Foundation.  Keiffer earned his B.A. from Emory University (Political Science) and his J.D. from District of Columbia School of Law. 

Patrick Dolan

Patrick Dolan serves as a Principal for the State and Local Advocacy Practice and Director of BGR’s State AI Working Group. In this role, Patrick coordinates state-focused policy campaigns that advance bipartisan objectives in state capitals across the U.S. and leads BGR’s outreach to Democratic governors, mayors and legislators. Patrick also serves on the finance committee at the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), where he supports Democratic governors and gubernatorial candidates across the country. 

Prior to joining BGR Group, Patrick served as the Deputy Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Immigration Hub, a project of Emerson Collective, where he led grasstops engagement in North Carolina and Georgia, coordinated with state consultants, and advised governors and mayors on suggested messaging and coordinated advocacy strategies in support of DACA and other pro-immigrant policies.

Patrick also served as Associate Director of State and Local Government Affairs at the Center for American Progress (CAP), considered one of the most influential public policy research and advocacy organizations in the country, where he played an integral role in building CAP’s new state and local government affairs program. At CAP, Patrick had regular exposure to senior leadership and visibility over the entire organization to ensure an integrated state and local government affairs strategy, while managing CAP’s relationships with state and local elected officials on economic policy, energy and environment, immigration, K-12 education, and higher education.

Previously, Patrick served as a Legislative Associate at the National Governors Association (NGA), where he worked to advance governors’ bipartisan federal priorities on energy, environmental, and economic development policies. While at NGA, Patrick collaborated with governors’ offices to secure passage of the FAST Act, a $305 billion federal highway and public transportation bill that provided long-term certainty and additional flexibility for states.

From 2014-2015, Patrick coordinated NGA’s regulatory activities surrounding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, and liaised with EPA leadership and governors on state-specific goals to reduce carbon emissions.

Patrick interned for Senator Mark Udall (D-CO), worked on the policy team for Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper’s (D) 2010 gubernatorial campaign, and as an Organizing Fellow for President Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign in Denver.

Patrick is originally from Englewood, Colorado and he is a graduate of Roanoke College.

William Crozer

William Crozer is the Head of BGR’s bipartisan State and Local Advocacy Practice. Located in Atlanta, GA, he focuses on developing and implementing client engagement strategies in Washington, states, and cities across the country.

From 2018-21, William served as Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs (IGA) in the Trump-Pence Administration. In that role, he forged relationships with stakeholders at all levels of government through  unprecedented outreach and collaboration. This is exemplified by the White House’s State Leadership Days Initiative (2017-19), which welcomed over 5,000 state, local, and tribal officials from all 50 states to the White House for briefings and discussion with Senior Administration Officials, and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic with the most robust intergovernmental partnership in modern history.

In addition to helping state, local navigate resources and programs across the federal government, William and the IGA team worked collaboratively with state, local, and tribal officials to advance a wide variety of bipartisan policies and shared priorities. The Governors’ Initiative on Regulatory Innovation, for example, brought together a more than 700-strong stakeholder coalition promoting and advancing the administration’s regulatory reform agenda at the state and local level.

Before joining the White House in 2018, William was a Vice President at BGR Group (2013–18), served in Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal’s office of Executive Counsel (2013), and managed a major donor club at the Republican National Committee – Finance (2007–09). 

A native of Thomasville, GA, William received a B.A. from the University of Virginia in 2007 and a J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law in 2012.

Jerry Strickland

Jerry Strickland is Principal and Texas Director at BGR, where he practices at the federal, state, and local levels. Leading BGR’s Austin office, Jerry helps companies navigate government to effectively position themselves for growth. He has successfully assisted companies in passing legislation at the state and federal levels, navigated rulemakings before agencies, and put his clients in front of frontline decision-makers at all levels of government to succeed.

As part of his work with BGR’s Commerce and State practices, Jerry represents clients in a variety of industries, including oil & gas, semiconductors, cryptocurrency, cybersecurity, transportation, health care, mental health, trade, and waterways. Working with the Coalition for a Fair and Open Port and energy companies along the Houston Ship Channel, Jerry and his clients led the federal advocacy effort for the widening and deepening of the Houston Ship Channel to achieve authorization, appropriation and a new start for construction decision from the White House in less than one budget cycle. Jerry also worked recently to help a leading international semiconductor company with its multi-billion expansion. BGR’s Texas office recently led the location selection, incentives negotiations and infrastructure improvement agreements with state, county, city, and school district officials. The $40 billion project is approved for a $200+ million tax incentive and is the largest foreign-direct investment in Texas history. The project also secured more than $3 billion in federal CHIPS Act funds as part of a Congressionally-passed program BGR also assisted clients with passage. Jerry also served as the Executive Director of the FABSS Texas Coalition, a coalition of Texas semiconductor manufacturers, which he represented before electricity and natural gas regulators in Texas. Jerry also serves as the Executive Director of the FABSS Texas Coalition, a coalition of Texas semiconductor manufacturers, which he represents before electricity and natural gas regulators in Texas. 

Prior to joining BGR, Jerry served as Governor Greg Abbott’s appointee to lead the Texas Office of State-Federal Relations, where he ran Texas’s federal affairs office and was lead advisor to the Governor on federal issues. While leading the office, Jerry helped secure billions of dollars in disaster relief funding to Texas to recover from Hurricane Harvey. 

Jerry also served on the Department of Interior’s Royalty Policy Committee, advising the Secretary on issues related to the determination of fair market value and the collection of revenue from energy and mineral resources on federal lands.

Jerry spent nearly 12 years at the Texas Attorney General’s office as then-Attorney General Abbott’s executive advisor, communications director and spokesperson. In this role, Jerry was part of executive leadership addressing EPA, ACA, child support and school finance litigation at every level of the legal system, including the U.S. Supreme Court.

Prior to his career in public service, Jerry’s career had him at the intersection of government and the media, spending a decade as a news reporter, investigative journalist and news anchor at television stations in Texas, Oklahoma and Mississippi. His work has been featured on CNN, CBS News, ABC News and the Weather Channel.

Loren Monroe

Loren Monroe, a Principal at BGR Group, serves as a member of the firm’s Executive Board as well as one of the firm’s spokesmen. He chairs the firm’s bipartisan State & Local Advocacy Practice while lobbying on behalf of energy, health, financial services, technology and trade clients. Loren has more than 25 years of experience in Washington’s political, business and public policy arenas.

In his role, Loren helps clients at the state and federal levels achieve policy solutions and secure business opportunities in Washington and state capitals across the country through direct lobbying before Congress, governors, state legislators and attorneys general. He is skilled at helping clients align federal and state advocacy strategies as well as enlisting state and local leaders to support clients’ federal priorities. He also helps clients to obtain grants and appropriations from federal and state agencies. Due to the quality of service and results that are consistently delivered, Loren has represented many of his clients for more than 20 years. 

Loren frequently serves as the campaign manager for complex lobbying efforts that require coordinated state and federal outreach across multiple states and involving several lobbying and public relations firms. Highlights of his lobbying successes include securing federal permitting approval for the nation’s first large scale offshore wind project, Congressional appropriations for new research buildings on a university campus, legislation to carveout scrap recyclers from the Superfund program, state funding for digital skilling programs as well as discretionary economic development incentives by governors.

Prior to joining BGR, Loren served at the public affairs firm Cassidy & Associates. He served on the legislative staff of former Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) when he served as Chairman of the Budget Committee and as a senior member of the Appropriations Committee. Loren previously served on the Finance staff of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) as well as on the President George H.W. Bush reelection campaign.

Loren currently serves on the Finance Committees of the Republican Governors Association and the Republican State Leadership Committee. He is often invited to speak before audiences on the political and legislative outlooks at the federal and state levels.

Governor Haley Barbour

Governor Haley Barbour, Founding Partner of BGR Group, returned to BGR in January 2012 after serving two consecutive terms as Governor of Mississippi, including two years as the Chairman of the Republican Governors Association. At BGR, he heads advocacy coalitions, lobbies on behalf of clients and remains a major force in Republican party politics and elections.

Gov. Barbour began his political career in 1968, dropping out of college to work on Richard Nixon’s presidential campaign; in 1976, after supporting Ronald Reagan for the GOP nomination, he ran Gerald Ford’s fall campaign in the Southeast. In 1982, he ran for U.S. Senate in Mississippi but lost to incumbent John C. Stennis. Gov. Barbour later served as Political Director of the Reagan White House. In 1987, he founded the government affairs firm that became BGR Group.

From 1993 to 1997, Gov. Barbour served as Chairman of the Republican National Committee, managing the 1994 Republican surge that led to GOP control of both Houses of Congress for the first time in 40 years. In 1996 Barbour wrote Agenda for America, A Republican Direction for the Future.
In 2003, he was elected Governor of Mississippi, assuming office in January 2004. During his tenure, Gov. Barbour led his state to adopt what the Wall Street Journal called the most comprehensive tort reform in the country. His team generated numerous large economic projects in the energy, aerospace and automotive fields, including Toyota’s selection of Blue Springs, Miss., for the company’s newest U.S. auto assembly plant, which was the most sought-after economic development project in the United States that year. In Gov. Barbour’s eight years as governor, per capita income in the state increased by 34 percent.

After Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, Gov. Barbour received national recognition from the bipartisan American Legislative Exchange Council for his swift response to the worst natural disaster in American history. In 2015, he published America’s Great Storm: Leading Through Hurricane Katrina, a memoir of the year after the storm from the Governor’s perspective and lessons in leadership from the mega-disaster. For his efforts to rebuild the Mississippi Gulf Coast, he received the Thomas Jefferson Freedom Award. Other awards during his tenure as Governor included being named Governor of the Year by Governing Magazine, receiving the Gulf Guardian Award by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in recognition of his work to rebuild Gulf Coast ecosystems, and receiving the Adam Smith Award from BIPAC to honor his pursuit of the principles of free enterprise.

The Hill newspaper has listed Gov. Barbour as one of Washington’s top lobbyists annually since his return to the firm in 2012. He also received the prestigious Bryce Harlow Foundation Business-Government Relations Award in 2018. He has also been elected to the Hall of Fame of the American Political Consultants. In 2019, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos appointed Gov. Barbour to serve as Chairman of the National Assessment Governing Board, which sets policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also called The Nation’s Report Card.

Gov. Barbour received his J.D. in 1973 from the University of Mississippi, which now has two centers named after him: the Haley Barbour Center for Manufacturing Excellence, which provides real world experience in manufacturing to students majoring in engineering, business and accounting, and the Haley Barbour Center for the Study of American Politics, which offers classes and symposia on campaigns and elections as well as an intersession for students each January in Washington.

A native of Yazoo City, Miss., Governor Barbour still resides in his hometown with his wife, Marsha. They have two sons and seven grandchildren.