Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Rob Lapsley

51. Rob Lapsley

Rob Lapsley is a throwback to another era of California Republicans. He served as Chief of Staff to Bill Jones, the Republican Secretary of State from 1995 to 2003, who was one of the last GOP statewide office holders. In his role as the President of the California Business Roundtable, a nonprofit research and advocacy group comprised of senior executives from major employers throughout the state, Lapsley leads with a courtly, old-school Republican manner that harkens back to a bygone era when Reeps and Dems could at least agree on what day of the week it was. Did they always brawl all day on the floor and then go drinking together at night? No, not always. But more often than they do now, when even having a civil conversation with the other side is viewed as high treason by the extremes of each party. Well, don’t be expecting Lapsley to change. He’s old school in the best meaning of the term, and to paraphrase Billy Joel, he won’t go changin’ to try and please you. Which is fine, as we like him just the way he is.

Updated Aug. 26, 2025