Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Brandon Castillo

76. Brandon Castillo

Brandon Castillo has secured a historic position of sorts in California politics: His firm – Bicker, Castillo and Fairbanks – took the lead communications role in pushing the passage of the state’s most costly ballot initiative, the $224 million Proposition 22 of 2020; BCF’s clients spent more than $200 million of that. Castillo has been on the Capitol scene for some 20 years, and has been involved in dozens of initiative campaigns; His firm’s website boasts a “better than a 95% success rate.” This year, Castillo and his team – Gwyn Bicker and Kathy Fairbanks – are back at the high-stakes table, supporting the tribal sports-betting initiative, Proposition 26, and opposing the online gambling initiative backed by FanDuel, DraftKings and others, Proposition 27. Casino.org says combined spending is expected to reach $200 million; Already just four committees have raised a reported $184 million for or against the measure. Before Bicker, Castillo and Fairbanks was founded in 2001, Castillo was a manager of public affairs for Burson-Marsteller, a major public relations firm.

Updated Aug. 9 2022.