Dozens of former congressional staff have become federal lobbyists in the first quarter of 2014.
So far this quarter, 76 former congressional staffers have filed lobbying papers for the first time since leaving Congress. More revolving door lobbyists are expected as the filing deadline approaches tonight. By comparison, 328 congressional staff made the transition into lobbying in the last election year.
This group contained first-time lobbyists, including Craig Albright, who served as chief of staff for Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) from 2009 to 2010. He became vice president of legislative strategy in March for the Business Software Alliance.
A number of this quarter's revolving door lobbyists have been in the private sector as a lobbyist before. They include: Courtney Lawrence, who lobbies for America's Health Insurance Plans after leaving as legislative director to Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.); Brian Crawford, who joined American Hotel and Lodging Association after serving as Rep. Tom Rooney's (R-Fla.) chief of staff; Maggie Lyons, a National Grocers Association lobbyist after being Rep. Steve King's (R-Iowa) deputy chief of staff; and Claire O'Rourke, who represents National Association of Development Companies after being an aide on Sen. Mary Landrieu's (D-La.) Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee.
Democratic staffers edged their Republican counterparts in getting lobbying jobs so far this year.
