Michael Corcoran (lobbyist)

Last updated
Michael Corcoran
Born
Michael C. Corcoran

1967 (age 5657)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Saint Leo University
Occupations
  • Lobbyist
  • fundraiser
SpouseJessica
Children4
Relatives Richard Corcoran (brother)

Michael C. Corcoran (born 1967) is an American lobbyist and fundraiser based in Florida. He has close personal and professional connections to the Republican establishment.

Contents

Background

Corcoran was born in Toronto, Canada. He received a business degree in 1990 from Saint Leo University. He worked in marketing in Dallas and in Santiago, Chile. [1] He was a fundraiser for the Republican Party of Florida under Daniel Webster. From 1992, he was legislative aide in Florida House District 62 to Buddy Johnson and (from 1996) to former House Speaker Johnnie Byrd. [2] He then worked as a legislative and governmental affairs consultant for Metz, Hauser & Husband PA. [3]

Lobbying career

Corcoran founded Corcoran & Associates with his wife Jessica Ray Corcoran (b. 1972) in 2001. His early business was buoyed by easy access to his ally Byrd, who became House Speaker in 2002. [4] This influence was criticized, as was Byrd's hiring of Corcoran's sister Jacqueline ("Jackie"). [5]

With the addition of Jeff Johnson, the firm became Corcoran & Johnson. In 2019, the firm was rebranded Corcoran Partners. [6]

In 2021, Corcoran Partners took in $5.9 million in lobbying fees. [7] Corcoran & Johnson's revenue expanded considerably in 2018. [8] In 2012, the firm generated $2.4 million in legislative fees. [9]

Political committees

Corcoran chairs the Building a Better Florida political committee. [10] He chaired Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody's Finance Committee in 2017 and her Inauguration Committee in 2019. [11] [12] Corcoran was also a prominent supporter of Marco Rubio. [13]

Personal life

Michael and Jessica met while campaigning for Republican state representative Buddy Johnson. [14] The couple has four children. They reside in Odessa, Florida.

His brother Richard Corcoran is former speaker of the Florida House. His sister Jacqueline Corcoran is also a lobbyist with his firm. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Davis (Florida politician)</span> American politician (born 1957)

James Oscar Davis III is an American politician from the U.S. state of Florida. He is a Democrat and served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1997 to 2007, representing Florida's 11th congressional district. He was the Democratic nominee for governor of Florida in the 2006 election, but was defeated by Republican Charlie Crist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida House of Representatives</span> Lower house of the Florida Legislature

The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted in 1968, defines the role of the Legislature and how it is to be constituted. The House is composed of 120 members, each elected from a single-member district with a population of approximately 180,000 residents. Legislative districts are drawn on the basis of population figures, provided by the federal decennial census. Representatives' terms begin immediately upon their election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marco Rubio</span> American politician (born 1971)

Marco Antonio Rubio is an American politician and lawyer serving as the senior United States senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives from 2006 to 2008. Rubio unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2016, winning presidential primaries in Minnesota, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Quinn Gillespie & Associates (QGA) was an American lobbying and communications firm founded in 2000 by Republican political strategist Ed Gillespie and Democratic operative Jack Quinn. It was sold in 2004 to WPP, one of the world's largest communications services groups, and ceased operations in December 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnnie Byrd</span> American politician

Johnnie B. Byrd Jr. is a former member of the Florida House of Representatives from District 62 representing Eastern Hillsborough County from 1996 through 2004. He was speaker of the House from 2002 to 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Latvala</span> American politician

Jack Latvala is a Republican politician from Florida. He represented the Pinellas County area in the Florida Senate from 1994 to 2002, and again from 2010 to 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 United States Senate election in Florida</span> Election

The 2016 United States Senate election in Florida was held November 8, 2016 to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Florida, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. The primary elections for both the Republicans and Democrats took place on August 30, 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Florida's 13th congressional district special election</span>

A special election for Florida's 13th congressional district was held March 11, 2014, to elect a member of the United States House of Representatives, following the death of incumbent Republican Congressman Bill Young on October 18, 2013. Primary elections were held on January 14, 2014. Young, who had already announced that he would not be running for re-election in 2014, was re-elected in 2012 with 57 percent of the vote. With 100% of the precincts reporting, David Jolly was declared the winner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Jolly</span> American attorney & politician (born 1972)

David Wilson Jolly is an American attorney, former lobbyist, and formerly Republican politician who served as the U.S. representative for Florida's 13th congressional district from 2014 to 2017. Having served as general counsel to his predecessor, Republican Bill Young, Jolly won a January 2014 special election for Young's seat. He was reelected in November 2014 but was defeated in 2016 by Democrat Charlie Crist. After leaving office, Jolly became a prominent Republican critic of President Donald Trump. In September 2018, Jolly announced he had left the Republican Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Corcoran</span> American politician (born 1965)

Richard Michael Corcoran is an American politician who served as speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. A Republican, Corcoran represented the 37th district, which includes central Pasco County, from 2012 to 2018, and previously represented the 45th district from 2010 to 2012. From 2019 to 2022, Corcoran served as the state's education commissioner. In 2023, he became president of the New College of Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Florida Chief Financial Officer election</span>

The 2018 Florida Chief Financial Officer election took place on November 6, 2018. Incumbent Republican Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, who was appointed in 2017, successfully ran for a full term, defeating Democratic nominee Jeremy Ring, a former state senator, in the general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Florida Commissioner of Agriculture election</span>

The 2018 Florida Commissioner of Agriculture election occurred on November 6, 2018, to elect the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture. Incumbent Republican Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam was term-limited and could not seek a third consecutive term. Democrat Nikki Fried narrowly defeated Republican Matt Caldwell. Fried became the only statewide elected Democrat in Florida, as U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, who had held Florida's Class I U.S. Senate seat since 2000, lost reelection. As of 2023, this remains the last time that a Democrat has won a statewide election in Florida, and the only time since 2012.This is also the last time they won the job of Florida Agriculture Commisioner as well Nikki Fried is the last Democrat to hold any elected state Agriculture Commissioner office in the US.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Florida Attorney General election</span>

The 2018 Florida Attorney General election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the Attorney General of Florida. Incumbent Republican attorney general Pam Bondi was term-limited and could not seek a third consecutive term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean Shaw</span> American politician and lawyer

Sean Michael Shaw is an American attorney and politician from the State of Florida. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Florida House of Representatives District 61, which includes portions of Hillsborough County in and around Tampa, including Ybor City and Tampa Heights, from 2016 to 2018. Shaw was the Democratic nominee for the 2018 Florida Attorney General election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank White (Florida politician)</span> American politician

Frank White is an American attorney and politician who served in the Florida House of Representatives from 2016 until 2018. He represented southern Escambia County, including the city of Pensacola.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashley Moody</span> Attorney General of Florida since 2019

Ashley Brooke Moody is an American attorney and politician serving as the Florida attorney general since January 2019. Moody previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney and a circuit court judge in Hillsborough County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nikki Fried</span> American lawyer and politician (born 1977)

Nicole Heather Fried is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the chair of the Florida Democratic Party since 2023. Prior to her election as chair, Fried served as the 12th Florida commissioner of agriculture from 2019 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, Fried graduated from the University of Florida in 2003. She has previously practiced various forms of law, including corporate law, foreclosure defense, and public defense. Fried has also been a prominent lobbyist for the marijuana industry in the state of Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Berfield</span> American politician

Kim Berfield is a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives representing the 58th district. She was elected in 2022. Previously, she represented the 50th district from 2000 to 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Florida Commissioner of Agriculture election</span>

The 2022 Florida Commissioner of Agriculture election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture. Incumbent Democratic Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried was eligible to run for a second term, but she instead ran for governor of Florida in 2022. Republican Wilton Simpson won the election with over 59% of the vote. Simpson’s victory gave Republicans complete control of state government for the first time since Reconstruction.

Ana Cruz is a civil servant and lobbyist at Ballard Partners Tampa, Florida. She was the first Hispanic person to serve as executive director of the Florida Democratic Party and served as spokesperson for Hillary Clinton’s Presidential Campaigns in 2008 and 2016. Ana Cruz is known as “Tampa’s First Lady”, partner of Tampa Mayor, Jane Castor.

References

  1. Marschalk, Susan (November 14, 1992). "Corcoran, 25, to serve on staff as Johnson's legislative assistant". The Tampa Tribune.
  2. Talev, Margaret (January 21, 1997). "The boss is new, but the job is the same for legislative aide". Tampa Bay Tribune.
  3. Nielsen, Allison (October 13, 2013). "Political Experience, Friendship Fuel Corcoran & Johnston". Sunshine State News.
  4. Bousquet, Steve (March 16, 2003). "Lobbyist sells access to top". Tampa Bay Times.
  5. Hiaasen, Carl (March 4, 2003). "PR machine can't hide Johnnie Byrd's hypocrisy". Tallahassee Democrat.
  6. Schorch, Peter (September 25, 2019). "A parting of ways: Corcoran & Johnston dissolve lobbying firm in amicable split". Florida Politics.
  7. Wilson, Drew (January 6, 2022). "Lobbying compensation: Corcoran Partners nears $6M in 2021 pay". Florida Politics.
  8. Wilson, Drew (August 31, 2018). "Southern Strategy Group's legislative lobbying boosts it to No. 1 in Q2 revenue". Florida Politics.
  9. Nielsen, Allison (October 13, 2013). "Political Experience, Friendship Fuel Corcoran & Johnston". Sunshine State News.
  10. Geggis, Anne (November 16, 2021). "Unopposed Daniel Perez posts six-figure fundraising in October to retain HD 116". Florida Politics.
  11. Perry, Mitch (December 11, 2017). "Heavy hitters in Ashley Moody's finance team". Florida Politics.
  12. "Big names tapped to head Ashley Moody's inaugural committee". Florida Politics. November 27, 2018.
  13. Schorsch, Peter (November 2, 2015). "Richard Corcoran, former Marco Rubio chief of staff, endorses Jeb Bush for president". Florida Politics.
  14. Schorch, Peter (September 25, 2019). "A parting of ways: Corcoran & Johnston dissolve lobbying firm in amicable split". Florida Politics.
  15. Schorsch, Peter (December 18, 2019). "Personnel note: Jacqueline Corcoran joins Corcoran Partners". Florida Politics.