Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Kevin Sloat

69. Kevin Sloat

Kevin Sloat has been a lobbyist so long that a member of the Legislature (Assemblyman Alex Lee) may still have been in diapers when Sloat joined the third house in 1997. Sloat got his start in Gov. Pete Wilson’s administration, where he worked as the governor’s Legislative Secretary and top aide and started honing his expertise in the state budget and legislative process. But he became an unquestioned Capitol power when he founded his lobbying firm, Sloat Higgins Jensen & Associates, which represents not only household names like Anheuser-Busch, Chevron, McDonald’s and Netflix, but also influential California special interests like the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, owners of Cache Creek Casino Resort west of Sacramento. These days, if there is a major fight in the energy, gaming, or fast food industries SHJ is in the middle of it. Sloat is highly regarded as a legislative and budget expert and has grown his firm into one of the most influential lobbying firms in California.

Updated Aug. 26, 2025