A group of longtime Democratic strategists has teamed up to launch Lafayette Advisors, a new full-service political firm powered by personalities who formerly worked for Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, to name a few notables. Lafayette Advisors is actually a merger of four boutique firms, with six founding partners leading the charge, including:
- Bradley Beychok of Baton Rouge, a skilled Dem strategist and co-founder of American Bridge 21st Century, the nation’s largest Democratic SuperPAC.
- Ryan Berni, a deputy on the Biden infrastructure team who previously built a well-regarded political shop and served as deputy mayor of New Orleans.
- Zach Butterworth, an attorney who most recently served as director of private sector engagement in the Biden administration.
With a staff of a half-dozen others (and growing), plus three more founding partners, the letterhead still made room for former U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond as senior adviser.
Berni, an alum of the political schools of James Carville and former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, says the new venture is a “partnership of friends turned business partners who love to work hard and win.” Most of the founders and staff have known each other for years, or even decades, pushing through one election cycle after another.
With so many recognizable names, the firm’s sector expertise will be broad, but Berni says the team will put a particular focus in the coming months on coalition development for the 2025 tax fights. Democrats like Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren are working to set the stage next year for new taxes on corporations and billionaires, among other ideas. Former President Donald Trump, meanwhile, is talking about reducing corporate tax rates and replacing tax revenue with increased tariffs, along with a host of other suggestions. Back home in Louisiana, an ambitious Gov. Jeff Landry and the GOP Legislature appear to be targeting the entire finance and taxation article of the state Constitution as a budget shortfall looms. The regular session in April will be dedicated largely to tax policy, but a special tax session between now and then is possible.
Berni says Lafayette Advisors will also place an early emphasis on “advancing and defending critical infrastructure and clean energy projects that face increased opposition at the local level.”
Other founding partners include:
- Ankit Desai, a government affairs expert with more than 20 years of political and lobbying experience.
- Michael Halle, who most recently served as senior adviser to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
- Leah Israel, the chief development officer for the 2024 Democratic National Convention and a consultant specializing in development, advocacy, corporate counsel and public affairs.
Additionally, comms pro and author Jennifer Palmieri has joined as senior adviser for nonprofits, and Leslie Leavoy, who previously ran the state chapter of Democrats for Education Reform, is part of the team managing the Louisiana office in New Orleans. The firm will also have operations in Washington, D.C., and Chicago. Berni says existing clients include Fortune 100 companies, U.S. labor unions, philanthropic organizations, nonprofits and national issue campaigns. Other advisers and senior staff include Sameera Fazili, Kate Berner, Leandrea English, Jana Plat and Andrea Purse.
—THEY SAID IT: “Louisiana is ready to move past our days of listening to plantation owners, but it seems our federal government is not.” –Gov. Jeff Landry’s statement following the cancellation of the $800 million Wallace Grain Export Facility project, which the company blamed on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in The Illuminator.
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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