BRIAN BALLARD

PRESIDENT, BALLARD PARTNERS, TALLAHASSEE

Ballard, a University of Florida law graduate, built one of the state’s top-billing, most influential lobbying operations and took it global. Ballard Partners operates in Washington, D.C., Boston, Los Angeles, Nigeria, Israel and Turkey. It recently signed on to lobby for the Japanese embassy in Washington. Ballard led Florida finance committees for Republican presidential nominees John McCain (2008), Mitt Romney (2012) and Donald Trump (2016). In 2018, Politico called him “The Most Powerful Lobbyist in Trump’s Washington,” but he maintains close ties to Gov. Ron DeSantis. Ballard Partners also has hired Democrats like former Jill Biden spokesperson Michael LaRosa, former U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler and former Florida Democratic Party Executive Director and Hillary Clinton Florida campaign spokesperson Ana Cruz.