News
George Steffes: 1935-2025
Sacramento lobbyist George Steffes.Longtime Capitol lobbyist and Reagan aide George Steffes has passed. He died at UCD Med Center after weeks of hospitalization after suffering a fall. He was 90.
Steffes became a fixture around the California Capitol when he joined the administration of newly-elected Gov. Ronald Reagan, first as the governor’s legislative director and later as Reagan’s policy director, a position he held from 1966-1972 before leaving the administration to help form the first multi-partner lobbying firm in Sacramento with Bob Beckus and Loren Smith.
Reagan later asked him to join him in Washington D.C. when he was elected president in 1980, but Steffes opted to stay in Sacramento. He would continue to be a successful lobbyist for the next three decades.
Steffes had a passion for golf, and in retirement became a highly-respected golf teacher at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento. (Full disclosure: Steffes was this reporter’s golf instructor, so I know of which I speak.) He jumped into teaching, attending courses all over the country on the finer points of teaching the sport.
We’ll have more on this as information becomes available. In the meantime, we hope you will take the time to check in on the oral history we conducted with Steffes in 2017. The interview was conducted by Lou Cannon.
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I am saddened to hear of George’s passing. I was hired by George late 1987 to assist his busy lobbying firm, George Steffes Associates (GSA), now known as Capitol Partners.
I thought I knew about government, politics and politicians before my employment with GSA. My 12 years working with this firm of Republican & Democratic lobbyists taught me so much more. Listen to the three part interview George did with Lou Cannon in 2017 (https://capitolweekly.net/oral-histories/remembering-governor-reagan/). What George says in the interview means even more so in today’s politics.
The LA Times called him “The principled lobbyists …” (https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0416-morrison-steffes-20140416-column.html). He was that and so much more. George took a chance on me when I was hired and I was rewarded with his kindness, understanding and support.
My sincere condolences and love go to his wife, Jaime, his children, Susie, Bob, Diane and John as well as his grandchildren and countless friends and colleagues.
Thanks for the kind words, Francine. Just to clear up the confusion about the firm, he started the first multi-lobbyist lobbying firm with Bob Beckus and Loren Smith after leaving the Governor’s Office. He left that firm to start his own multi-lobbyist firm, which was George R. Steffes, Inc., or GRS, Inc. for short. He sold that to a large law firm to provide in-house lobbying services. When we left that firm, Kathryn Austin Scott, the last lobbyist he hired before joining the law firm, started Capitol Partners on April 1, 2007. George and I were her employees. He didn’t want to be a partner in that firm because he said he was going to retire soon. He ended up fully retiring 13 years later when COVID hit.