Holly Kinser

Last updated
Holly Kinser
Born1965 (age 5859) [1]
Education Scripps College
Occupationlobbyist
Spouse Bill DeWeese (married 1992, divorced 1999) [1]

Holly Kinser (born 1965) is a Pennsylvania lobbyist, where she is the President of The Kinser Group. As a lobbyist for the City of Philadelphia, she is credited with driving legislation in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, including a rental-car and hotel tax, to help fund the construction of sports stadiums and to expand the Philadelphia International Airport. Details of her marriage and subsequent divorce to former Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Bill DeWeese garnered significant coverage in the media.

Contents

Early years and education

A native of Orinda, California, Kinser's father ran an executive search company. When Kinser was 17, her father became a personnel director for the Reagan White House and she moved with her family to Washington, DC. [1] She took a summer job with the Republican National Committee, an organization where she worked until she graduated from Scripps College, where she majored in history and was the swim team captain. [1] She took a position with International Paper, who sent her to Harrisburg in 1990 to open their lobbying office. [1] A year later she began seeing Bill DeWeese socially, and they married in December 1992. [1]

Career in lobbying

In 1992, DeWeese supplanted Robert W. O'Donnell as Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and in 1994 Kinser's allies Tom Ridge and Rick Santorum were elected. She then took a position with Greenlee Associates and began lobbying on behalf of Philadelphia and was able to help pass rental-car tax that helped fund the stadiums, the airport expansion funding, and the one percent hotel tax that fuels the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation. [1] It was during this time that rumors of a relationship between her and then-Mayor of Philadelphia Ed Rendell began. [1] Both Rendell and Kinser deny any impropriety in their relationship. [1]

Kinser and DeWeese separated in 1999. [1] She began seeing Ed Linsley, a manager at Philadelphia Four Seasons Hotel. DeWeese, who was served the divorce papers on the House floor blamed Rendell for the dissolution of his marriage. [1] In 2001, Kinser moved to Chicago and took a job with the small public-relations firm Kemper Lesnick when Linsley was assigned to the Chicago Four Seasons. [1] In June 2002 Kinser sought to return to the Harrisburg lobbying community and DeWeese asked lobbyist Steve Wojdak not to hire Kinser. [1] Later that year, Wojdak hired Kinser; accounts conflict on the specifics of what happened in the earlier meeting and whether Wojdak had actually broken any agreement. [1] DeWeese penned a letter (eventually leaked to PoliticsPA and published to wide dissemination) calling Wojdak an "abject, ignoble, mendacious knave." [1] In relatiation, DeWeese sought to keep Wojdak off of the board of the Philadelphia Convention Center Authority. [2]

During the 2002 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election, rumors spread that Republican Mike Fisher's campaign was preparing to air a negative television advertisement discussing her relationship with the Democratic nominee for Governor Ed Rendell. [3] [4] In two incidents in one evening, Kinser loudly and publicly confronted Fisher's television man, John Brabender, and campaign manager, Kent Gates regarding these rumors, reportedly telling Gates "I hate your guts". [4] In a March 2003 article in the Philadelphia Magazine, Sabrina Erdely suggested that Kinser had confronted the Fisher staffers in a deliberate attempt to increase her public profile. [1]

Awards and accolades

In 2003, she was named to the PoliticsPA "Power 50" list of politically influential personalities, where it was noted that her "lobbying talent speaks for itself." [5] In 2010, Politics Magazine named her one of the most influential Democrats in Pennsylvania. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Rendell</span> Governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011

Edward Gene Rendell is an American lawyer, prosecutor, politician, and author who served as the 45th governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011. He previously served as chair of the national Democratic Party from 1999 to 2001, as the 96th mayor of Philadelphia from 1992 to 2000, and as district attorney of Philadelphia from 1978 to 1986.

H. William DeWeese is an American politician who is a former member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. A member of the Democratic Party, DeWeese served as the 135th Speaker of the Pennsylvania House from 1993 to 1994. After five years of investigation by Republican State Attorney General Tom Corbett, he was indicted in December 2009 on six charges of conflict of interest, theft and criminal conspiracy on accusations that two members of his staff used state resources to campaign for political office. The trial began January 23, 2010. He was re-elected in 2010 despite the charges, but was convicted of five of the six felony charges on February 6, 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catherine Baker Knoll</span> Pennsylvania politician

Catherine Baker Knoll was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party. She was the 30th lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania, serving under Governor Ed Rendell from 2003 to 2008, when she died in office. Prior to that, she served as the 69th Pennsylvania State Treasurer from 1989 to 1997. She was the first and so far only woman to be Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Singel</span> Pennsylvania politician

Mark Stephen Singel is an American politician who served as the 27th lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania from 1987 to 1995, alongside Governor Bob Casey. Singel served as the state's acting governor from June 14, 1993 to December 13, 1993, during Casey's lengthy battle with amyloidosis and subsequent multiple organ transplant.

John Michael Perzel is an American politician and member of the Republican Party. Perzel represented 172nd Legislative District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1978 until 2010. From April 2003 to January 2007, he served as House Speaker. He lost his bid for re-election to Democrat Kevin Boyle in 2010. Perzel was convicted in August 2011 of a variety of corruption related charges and, in March 2012, was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Pennsylvania</span> Politics of a U.S. state

Pennsylvania has been considered a swing state throughout its entire history as it only voted for the nationwide loser on only 10 occasions. Meaning it has voted for the national winner 83% of the time, as of 2020. Although, it generally supported Republicans between the Civil War and New Deal eras, as it voted Republican in every election between 1860 and 1932, except for 1912, when the Republican vote was split. Even then, the state's strong Republican ties meant that it backed Republican-turned-Progressive Theodore Roosevelt. The state backed a Democrat in 1936 for the first time since 1856. Pennsylvania generally leaned Democratic since the 1990s, as it backed the Democratic presidential candidate in every election since 1992 except in 2016, when it was won by Republican candidate Donald Trump with a plurality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2002 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election</span>

The 2002 Pennsylvania gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002, to elect the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania. Incumbent Republican governor Mark Schweiker, who took office in 2001 when Tom Ridge resigned to become Homeland Security Advisor, was eligible to run for a full term, but did not do so. Democrat Ed Rendell, the former mayor of Philadelphia and Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, emerged from a competitive primary to win the general election against Republican Pennsylvania Attorney General Mike Fisher.

PoliticsPA.com is a website centered on the politics of Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Stetler</span> American politician

Stephen Hays Stetler is a Democratic politician from Pennsylvania who served as Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue from March 2009 until his resignation in December of that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David L. Cohen</span> American lawyer (born 1955)

David L. Cohen is an American businessman, attorney, lobbyist, and diplomat who is the United States ambassador to Canada. He previously served as the senior advisor to the CEO of Comcast Corporation. Until January 1, 2020, he was senior executive vice president and chief lobbyist for Comcast. He also served as chairman of the board of trustees for the University of Pennsylvania and was chief of staff to former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell.

Stanley I. Rapp is a prominent lobbyist in Pennsylvania, where he is a partner with the Greenlee Partners lobbying firm, which is the "pre-eminent power player in Harrisburg politics." He is considered the "dean of Harrisburg lobbyists."

Stephen Richard Wojdak was an American politician who was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and a prominent lobbyist in Pennsylvania, where he was the President and CEO of S. R. Wojdak & Associates.

Christopher Bravacos is an American communications consultant and lobbyist in Pennsylvania. He is the President and CEO of Bravo Group, a communications and lobbying firm.

The Pennsylvania Film Production Tax Credit is a tax credit program supporting the production of feature films and television programs in Pennsylvania. The tax credit was signed into law by Gov. Ed Rendell in July 2004.

Colleen M. Kopp is a lobbyist with Wojdak Government Relations and a former legislative staffer in Pennsylvania. Prior to that she was an aide for House Minority Whip Mike Veon and for Governor Ed Rendell. She is a former Secretary of Legislative Affairs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenlee Partners</span> Political lobbying firm in Pennsylvania

Greenlee Partners, LLC is a lobbying firm in Pennsylvania, possibly best known for representing the City of Philadelphia and Allegheny County.

S.R. Wojdak & Associates, LP, commonly known as Wojdak Government Relations, is a lobbying firm based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Leslie Anne Miller is a Pennsylvania attorney and philanthropist who served as General Counsel of Pennsylvania under Governor Ed Rendell.

Vicki Phillips is an American education consultant and former executive vice president and chief education officer of National Geographic who previously served as the director of education for the College Ready program of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and as the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Urban</span> American lobbyist (born 1964)

David Urban is an American lobbyist and political commentator for CNN. He is the managing director for BGR Group and serves on the board of directors for numerous companies.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Rubin Erdely, Sabrina (March 2003). "There's Something About Holly Philadelphia Magazine March, 2003". Philadelphia . Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Metro Corp.
  2. Neri, Al (September 2002). "DeWeese Letter Enlivens Capital Gossip Grapevine". The Insider . Archived from the original on 2007-10-12.
  3. "Holly Kinser vs. Kent Gates & John Brabender". PoliticsPA . Archived from the original on November 19, 2003.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. 1 2 Baer, John (October 2, 2002). "Rendell Friend Fumes She May Be Target". Philadelphia Daily News . Archived from the original on April 26, 2003.
  5. "Power 50". PoliticsPA . The Publius Group. 2003. Archived from the original on 2004-04-17.
  6. Roarty, Alex; Sean Coit (January 2010). "Pennsylvania Influencers" (PDF). Politics Magazine. pp. 44–49. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-12-29.