“I started Devise in 2019,” he tells LaPolitics. “I hopped out to become chief of staff for Congresswoman Letlow. I stepped out of the chief role and came back to the firm just because of the growing need. We offer strategic consulting, corporate and strategic communications. You had a lot of people, a lot of corporate clients, wanting to get our expertise to help in the government relations space. We saw the window of opportunity, as the climate changes in the state and around the country, to offer more to clients.”
As for what he brings to the table in this transition, Bautsch mentions “the advocacy piece, but also the communication piece—not just going the more traditional way of going to our legislators and trying to push a bill and sitting in committee and at the table. But how can we really be a partner with them on the front end to educate and advocate? It’s a one-stop shop where we bring a ton of experience from the comms side and the advocacy side from our time working in the Legislature, working in the administration and working on the Hill.”
With the goal of growing further in the near future, the firm now has five players, including John Walters, who was at LSU as vice president of government relations; Noble-Bates Young, who was chief of staff at the Louisiana Department of Health; and Mimi Murrill and Andrée Miller, who were members of Gov. Jeff Landry’s staff.
—Will Trump endorse? As he runs for Congress in a crowded field in Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District, state Rep. Michael Echols got some attention this week with an endorsement from U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus who chairs the House Judiciary Committee. But Echols’ team hopes it’s a precursor to the big prize: a nod from the White House. Jordan is a prominent Trump ally, and his backing has helped lay the groundwork for a Trump endorsement for candidates like Tennessee Congressman Matt Van Epps.
—They said it: “I’ve got rocks in my driveway that are smarter than that. They’re not going to throw LSU out of the SEC. Let me tell you something, I and a lot of other people in the United States Congress will be on them like a hobo on a ham sandwich.” –U.S. Sen. John Kennedy on a threat by Southeastern Conference officials to kick out LSU, as reported by ESPN
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
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