Lobbyists make a run for congressional seats

WASHINGTON -- In a year when most candidates are sneering at the influence of special interests in Washington, Republican Sydney Hay is making what may be the toughest pitch in politics: lobbyist for Congress.

Running to represent northeast Arizona in the House, Hay has faced a barrage of negative advertising over her 18-year-old Arizona lobbying firm, Southwest Policy Group. But being a lobbyist, she insists, shouldn't be an impediment to elected office.

"Without someone like me, taxpayers have no voice," said Hay, who lobbies for an Arizona mining association, a school-choice group and three other interests, state lobbying reports show. "I advocated for the jobs that mattered in this district."

While candidates across the USA, including the presidential nominees, battle for the mantle of reform in this year's election, an analysis by USA TODAY and the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics identified 15 current and former lobbyists who are running for Congress. Nine are challengers; six are current members.

Of the 15, nine are in competitive races, including three incumbents, according to the non-partisan Cook Political Report, which rates the races.

Many of the candidates said the skills they learn as lobbyists — convincing others, finding compromise — will make them strong lawmakers. In almost every case, though, their past work has also provided a political opportunity for their opponents.

In Kansas, Republican Sen. Pat Roberts aired television ads noting that his opponent, Democrat Jim Slattery, worked as a lobbyist for the Washington firm Wiley Rein.

"For the last 14 years he's been a Washington lobbyist," the narrator in one Roberts ad says as Slattery's face is shown next to a mounting pile of $100 bills.

Slattery, a former member of the House, released a list of his clients from 1995 to this year, which included Kansas City Southern Railway, Motorola, Spirit Airlines, the wheat gluten industry and 28 others.

Congress approved a lobbying bill last year that required more frequent reporting of lobbyist expenditures and also forced senators to wait two years after retirement, instead of one, to begin lobbying. House members still may lobby after one year.