Mike Toomey Lobbyist in Texas. Updated biographical information.
Mike Toomey is a lobbyist working with the Texas Lobby Group in Austin. He is the only person in Texas history to be Chief of Staff for two Texas Governors:
- Rick Perry – Nov., 2002 – Sept. 2004
- William P. Clements, Jr. – 1989 – 1990
Mike was a Texas state legislator himself from 1983 to 1988. Over the years Mike Toomey has established himself as a premier lobbyist in our state and currently heads one of the most prestigious and powerful lobby firms in Texas.
In 2011, Capitol Inside ranked Mike as one of the top hired guns lobbyists in the state of Texas.
At the top of the list of the most powerful lobbyists in Texas is a number of perennial names. Mike Toomey, Bill Messer, Rusty Kelley, and Buddy Jones. These four have had the top spots for a number of years, with Toomey and Jones vying for top honors ever year.
The New York Times has noted that Mike’s reputation and power in Texas are second-to-none.
Behind every politician there are men and women working in the wings, operatives who can make calls, fix problems, raise money, punish enemies. In Rick Perry’s world, one man stands above them all: Mike Toomey. Intense and reclusive, Mr. Toomey is not well known outside of a few square blocks around the Texas Capitol. But within them, he is respected and feared for his keen intellect, tough political tactics and his longstanding partnership with the governor.
Michael Toomey’s influence has also been noted by The Texas Tribune, who said the following:
Every politician has people working behind the scenes to make things happen, and it’s no different for Rick Perry. But the one man rises above the rest: Mike Toomey. The Trib’s Jay Root and Jim Rutenberg of The New York Times take a look at what the powerful lobbyist has done to help Perry as governor — and how he’s trying to get him elected president of the United States.
The Texas Capitol Group
- Mike is a founding member of the influential Texas Capitol Group, whose work in Texas is well known.
- The Texas Capitol Group #1 on list of state’s most powerful lobby teams.
- Mike Toomey, Bill Messer and Walter Fisher retain their places among the rankings’ top 10 lobbyists.
- Lara Keel, Billy Phenix, Joe Garcia and former state Sen. Kyle Janek are also listed among the state’s best lobby players.
- Regarding Mike Toomey’s spot at the top of Capitol Inside’s power rankings, Inside’s Mike Hailey said, “…it should come as no surprise that no one is rated higher on Capitol Inside’s Texas Lobby Power Rankings for 2011.”
- Regarding Lara Keel’s jump from “rising star” status – an award she received four years ago — to her spot among the state’s top twenty lobbyists in 2011, Capitol Inside says, “…she’s become the go-to lobbyist for Republican women legislators…”
- Other Texas Capitol Group team members received special recognition, like Eric Bearse, who was ranked eighth on the list of Political Consultants Who Lobby, and Rossanna Salazar of ROSS Communications, who heads up the Texas Capitol Group’s communications arm.