Spending on lobbying firms tops $66M through first quarter of 2025

Special interests, or as the California Secretary of State calls them “lobbyist employers,” paid lobbying firms more than $66 million to lobby state government in the first quarter of 2025, according to a Capitol Weekly analysis of lobbying firm reports.

As we always note in these quarterly stories, that number doesn’t include the total spent on all lobbying during the first quarter of the 2025-26 legislative cycle, as lobbying firm disclosure reports don’t include wages and expenses for in-house lobbyists.

That $66 million represents a roughly 13 percent drop from the first three months of last year, which constituted the fifth quarter of the 2023-24 cycle. It also represents a 4 percent drop from the first quarter of 2023, the first quarter of the last cycle.

Capitol Weekly’s analysis aggregates the total dollar value of all lobbying payments received by lobbying firms that are registered with the state, as disclosed on Form 625, which is filed quarterly with the SoS.

The Form 625 is only for lobbying firms, which are defined as businesses “compensated to communicate directly with any state, legislative or agency official to influence legislative or administrative action on behalf of a client.”

The top grossing firm for the quarter was Jared Ficker, Cassie Gilson, Jason Kinney, Dustin Moore and Kevin Schmidt’s Axiom Advisors, which reported receiving nearly $2.25 million.

Joining Axiom with receipts over $2 million was

• Platinum Advisors(more than $2.21 million),
• Townsend Public Affairs (nearly $2.21 million),
• Shaw Yoder Antwih Schmelzer & Lange (nearly $2.1 million) and
• KP Public Affairs ($2.014 million).

The firms reporting receipts of more than $1 million were:

• Weideman Group($1.9 million),
• Nielsen Merksamer Parrinello Gross & Leoni (nearly $1.27 million),
• Actum(nearly $1.26 million),
• Political Solutions($1.19 million),
• Sloat Higgins Jensen and Associates (nearly $1.18 million),
• Lang Hansen Giroux & Kidane(nearly $1.15 million),
• Niemela, Pappas and Associates(nearly $1.13 million),
• Caliber Strategies(nearly $1.1 million),
• Aaron Read & Associates($1.05 million) and
• Deveau Burr Group (nearly $1.03 million).

There were three firms that top $900,000 (Campbell Strategy & Advocacy, Fernandez Jensen Kimmelshue Government Affairs and Carpenter Garcia Sievers) and five that topped $800,000 (Lighthouse Public Affairs, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, California Advocates, Resolute and Capitol Advisors Group).

One hundred and thirty-three firms reported receiving six figures or more in payments in Q1. Another 113 firms reported receiving five figures in payments.