Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Flo Kahn

45. Flo Kahn

Floreine “Flo” Kahn is the point person in Sacramento for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, otherwise known as PhRMA. It’s an important political force in Sacramento, although it generally keeps a low profile unless its interests are threatened – as in 2016, when it spent $110 million to defeat an attempt (Proposition 61) to allow cheaper drugs to be imported. Kahn, a deputy vice president, is the person who directs PhRMA’s lobbying game. PhRMA has hired six firms, according to the state, and she has spent about $1.1 million since last year lobbying on dozens of bills. Khan earlier handled state government affairs in the West for AbbVie, and before that she worked at Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Bristol-Myers Squibb. She served as a deputy chief of staff to then-Assembly GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, where she worked on such key issues as energy, water and workers’ compensation. She’s a UC Berkeley graduate in political science.

Updated Aug. 9, 2022