Lobbying

Ex-Rep Quayle hangs K Street shingle

by Megan R. Wilson - 10/08/15 10:10 AM ET

Former Rep. Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.) is stepping out from a K Street firm to hang a shingle of his own.

Combined with Rashid Hallaway, a former aide to former Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), and lobbyist Rob Hobart, the three men have formed Hobart Hallaway & Quayle (HHQ) Ventures.

The firm will focus on lobbying and business consulting, and have offices in both Washington and Nashville, Tenn.

“With leadership changes in the House – and as further changes in Washington unfold – we believe HHQ Ventures’ experience and networks will offer our clients unique and actionable insight,” Quayle said in a release.

He says House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who is vying for Speaker, is one of his mentors.

In 2010, Quayle was elected to Congress as part of the Republican wave, in which the party regained control of the House.

He lost his seat in 2012 as part of a brutal member-versus-member primary battle against Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.), and moved to K Street firm Clark Hill the following year as a senior director of government and public affairs.

HHQ Ventures begins with at least 15 clients, whom Hobart is carrying over from the firm he founded earlier this year, Hobart Ventures. Those clients include Asurion, Duke Energy, Eastman Chemical Company and the Corrections Corporation of America.

Prior to venturing out on his own, Hobart spent almost a decade at lobbying and public affairs firm McBee Strategic Consulting.

Hallaway has been an in-house lobbyist at Ameriqual, a food processing and packaging company, and vice president of American Patriot Holdings.