A Winning Combo: Public Affairs and Lobbying
The memorable “Room Where it Happens” scene from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton chronicles Founding Fathers Jefferson, Madison, and Hamilton huddled behind closed doors to plot out a deal. Today, less dramatic, but equally critical, meetings still happen when an important piece of legislation emerges that is an existential threat to corporations, trade associations, and not-for-profits. It may not have the drama of a Broadway show, but rest assured, the emotion is there for those in on the tense action.
The immediate next step typically involves government affairs leaders convening their internal teams and external partners. During this initial meeting, government relations, communications, legal, and internal and external lobbyists discuss strategic and tactical plans, including the need to potentially bring in a public affairs component.
While these meetings are constant, they often miss a critical focus on public opinion that can correctly frame the legislative effort for Capitol reporters, potential coalition allies, legislative partners, and other important stakeholders. I’ve seen this mistake made time after time: strategy set, messaging framework established, audiences solidified, all without the benefit of public affairs experts who can help guide the approach from the outset and ensure things stay on course.
The fallout? Public affairs firms are brought in to right a ship that has already started to veer off course. A seat at the table from the beginning helps avoid this wayward navigation and build an even stronger strategy and plan from the get-go.
The Ideal Pairing
Pairing public affairs and lobbying early in the process is the ideal model. Lobbying focuses on the influence of government relationships and decisions, and public affairs works to shape outcomes and public opinion to achieve a similar result with a variety of stakeholders.
So, why is one side often in the room early, while the other is just an agenda item to be discussed down the road?
As I’m constantly sitting down with lobbyists and government affairs teams, here is my attempt at summarizing best practices for how the two can really work together meaningfully from the start to create the right strategy.
Day One Alignment
The most successful campaigns begin with alignment. Too often, lobbying teams and public affairs consultants are brought together only after a bill has been introduced or a controversy has emerged. By then, opportunities have already been missed. The strongest programs treat lobbying and public affairs as two halves of the same strategy from day one.
Lobbyists bring deep relationships, legislative expertise, and an understanding of the political landscape. Public affairs professionals translate those policy priorities into compelling narratives that resonate with elected officials, media, the public, and potentially many more key stakeholders. In a legislative forum, successful public affairs amplifies the advocacy of a lobbyist. That is what good looks like to my team and should be the benchmark for success, not just creating work that doesn’t end up moving the needle for a lobbyist’s ability to pass or block legislation.
In 2025, our firm worked in lockstep with a team of lobbyists to amend a client out of a piece of legislation that would have been devastating to their bottom line. Through a combination of strategically timed, tailored, and targeted earned media, coalition mobilization, and messaging development, the result was a bill that no longer posed a threat to our client. It was a prime example of successful execution by a lobbyist operating in a favorable environment because of the work done by the public affairs partners.
Complementary Skill Sets
Successful teams develop a single roadmap with common goals, agreed-upon messages, defined audiences, and clear decision points. For example, if a client is trying to advance legislation, lobbyists can identify which lawmakers remain persuadable and what policy concerns they are hearing from constituents. Public affairs teams can then develop supporting research, third-party validator outreach, local media engagement, digital content, and business testimonials that directly address those concerns before key committee hearings or floor votes.
In other words, lobbying efforts do better in tandem with public affairs support, and vice-versa. Instead of simply reacting to developments, the public affairs and communications efforts proactively create momentum that strengthens the lobbying strategy. Likewise, lobbyists provide real-time intelligence from legislative meetings that allows messaging to evolve as questions, misconceptions, or political dynamics change.
Better Together
The best partnerships also recognize that every interaction shapes a client’s reputation, not just legislative outcomes. Today’s policymakers consume information from everywhere. When lobbying and public affairs teams meet regularly, share intelligence freely, and measure success against the same objectives, clients receive far more than legislative representation or media support: they receive a coordinated public affairs strategy that builds credibility, earns trust, and creates multiple avenues of influence.
Too Often, Public Affairs is Underutilized
Public affairs firms can bring tremendous value to a lobbyist’s efforts: strategy, relationships, and collective efforts that make the lobbyist’s work “pop” in a crowded legislative field. Public affairs firms can create tailwinds that help lobbying efforts, and lobbying firms can help public affairs get a stronger seat at the table for opportunities with clients.
Clients will realize they can get more value by encouraging their different support teams and partners to work together. Bringing in a public affairs team early is the most critical move to shape strategy, provide a unique perspective, set an early message frame, identify pitfalls in the media, and create more opportunities for partnerships.
To get the best results, a public affairs team needs to always be in the “Room Where it Happens.”