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   From: slothe@netcom.com   
      
   Special interests, AKA “lobbyist employers” as the California Secretary of   
   State calls them, paid lobbying firms more than $91 million to lobby state   
   government in the third quarter of 2025, according to a Capitol Weekly   
   analysis of lobbying firm reports.   
      
   As Capitol Weekly always notes in quarterly lobbying reports, that number   
   doesn’t include all of the money spent on lobbying during the third   
   quarter of the 2025-26 legislative cycle, as lobbying firm disclosure   
   reports don’t include wages and expenses for in-house lobbyists.   
      
   The $91 million represents a 1% increase from the amount spent in the   
   second quarter, after accounting for disclosure amendments. According to   
   updated figures, special interests spent more than $90 million on lobbying   
   firms during the second quarter of the year.   
      
   Special interests spent more in the third quarter than the two previous   
   quarters so far in the cycle.   
      
   For the first nine months of 2025, special interests spent more than $258   
   million on lobbying firms, according to SoS disclosures analyzed on Nov.   
   3.   
      
   (Capitol Weekly notes in these quarterly lobbying spending stories when we   
   gathered our data because the filing of subsequent amendments can change   
   totals. We also note that we try at every turn to catch any incorrectly   
   formatted data in order to avoid any miscounts. Scraping numbers from Cal-   
   Access, however, can be an imperfect process and mis-formatted data isn’t   
   always properly flagged in spreadsheet calculations. Please contact us if   
   you see any incorrect totals.)   
      
   Capitol Weekly’s analysis aggregates the total dollar value of all   
   lobbying payments received by lobbying firms that are registered with the   
   state, as disclosed on Form 625, which is filed quarterly with the   
   secretary of state.   
      
   The Form 625 is only for lobbying firms, which are defined as businesses   
   “compensated to communicate directly with any state, legislative or agency   
   official to influence legislative or administrative action on behalf of a   
   client.”   
      
   The top grossing firm for the third quarter was Jared Ficker, Cassie   
   Gilson, Jason Kinney, Dustin Moore and Kevin Schmidt’s Axiom Advisors,   
   which reported receiving nearly $3.5 million.   
      
   Coming in second for July through September was Capitol Advocacy, which   
   reported receiving more than $3.3 million, and California Strategies,   
   which received nearly $2.8 million.   
      
   Four other firms reported receipts of more than $2 million in the second   
   quarter:   
      
   Platinum Advisors(nearly $2.6 million);   
   Townsend Public Affairs (more than $2.3 million);   
   KP Public Affairs (more than $2.22 million); and   
   Shaw Yoder Antwih Schmelzer & Lange (more than $2.2 million).   
   The firms reporting receipts of more than $1 million were:   
      
   Weideman Group(more than $1.9 million);   
   Sloat Higgins Jensen and Associates (more than $1.63 million);   
   Actum(nearly $1.6 million);   
   Guggenheim Securities ($1.52 million), the investment banking arm of the   
   global investment firm Guggenheim Partners;   
   Political Solutions(more than $1.5 million);   
   Deveau Burr Group (more than $1.3 million);   
   Niemela, Pappas and Associates(nearly $1.3 million);   
   Fernandez Jensen Kimmelshue Government Affairs (nearly $1.24 million);   
   Nielsen Merksamer Parrinello Gross & Leoni (nearly $1.23 million);   
   Campbell Strategy & Advocacy (nearly $1.2 million);   
   Lang Hansen Giroux & Kidane(nearly $1.15 million);   
   Resolute (more than $1.028 million); and   
   Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck (more than $1.012 million).   
   There were four firms that topped $900,000 (Carpenter Garcia Sievers, Joe   
   A. Gonsalves & Son, Caliber Strategies and Lighthouse Public Affairs) and   
   seven that topped $800,000 (California Advocates, Aaron Read & Associates,   
   Miller, Cespedes and Associates, Samson Advisors, Arc Strategies, McHugh   
   Koepke Padron Government Relations and Sacramento Advocates).   
      
   One hundred and sixty-four firms reported receiving six figures or more in   
   payments in Q3. Another 148 firms reported receiving five figures in   
   payments.   
      
   For the first nine months of 2025, one firm reported receiving more than   
   $9 million: John Latimer’s Capitol Advocacy, with nearly $9.3 million.   
      
   Two more firms reported receipts of more than $8 million: Axiom (nearly   
   $8.7 million) and California Strategies (nearly $8.1 million). Platinum   
   Advisors reported nearly $7.3 million in payments.   
      
   Three other firms reported receipts of more than $6 million for the first   
   three quarters:   
      
   KP (nearly $6.9 million);   
   Townsend (nearly $6.8 million); and   
   Shaw Yoder (more than $6.4 million).   
   Two more firms reported receiving more than $5 million: Weideman (nearly   
   $5.8 million) and Actum (more than $5.03 million).   
      
   Two others reported more than $4 million: Sloat Higgins (more than $4.07   
   million) and Political Solutions (more than $4.05 million).   
      
   Seven more firms reported more than $3 million in receipts:   
      
   Nielsen Merksamer (more than $3.84 million);   
   Niemela, Pappas (more than $3.81 million);   
   Deveau Burr (nearly $3.6 million);   
   Lang Hansen (more than $3.5 million);   
   Fernandez Jensen (nearly $3.5 million);   
   Campbell Strategy (more than $3.3 million); and   
   Guggenheim Securities ($3.08 million).   
   An additional 17 firms reported receipts of more than $2 million and 30   
   other firms reported receiving more than $1 million.   
      
   The 65 firms that received more than $1 million over the first three   
   quarters of the year accounted for 71% of the money spent on lobbying   
   firms. The next 181 firms that collected six figures over those nine   
   months accounted for just 27% of the total spending on lobbying firms.   
      
   This article was republished from The Capital Weekly. See their article   
   here.   
      
   https://capitolweekly.net/spending-on-lobbying-firms-exceeded-91-million-   
   in-q3/   
      
   https://gvwire.com/2025/11/10/spending-on-lobbying-firms-exceeded-91-   
   million-in-california-in-q3/   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
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