Lobbying World

• Longtime lobbyist Cindi Merifield Tripodi is opening her own lobby shop called R2P — harkening to the “right to petition” portion of the Constitution’s First Amendment. She has spent the last decade at the Nickles Group as a founding partner and, before that, was the chief lobbyist for the Motion Picture Association of America. The firm officially opens on Sept. 1.

• Wesley McClelland, a senior policy adviser to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), has been named the vice president for federal affairs at the American Insurance Association. McClelland begins the new gig on Sept. 8.

{mosads}• Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld hired Jeffery Dennis as a senior counsel in its energy regulation, markets and enforcement practice in Washington. Dennis comes from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, most recently serving as the director of its Division of Policy Development. 

• Intuit has named Allison Schwartz as the vice president of government relations and public affairs. Prior to that, she worked at Greenberg Traurig as a director of government affairs. Schwartz has campaign and Capitol Hill experience, working for national party committees, the Senate Banking Committee and the House Small Business Committee.  

• George McElwee and Keith Pemrick have formed a new bipartisan firm called Commonwealth Strategic Partners. McElwee most recently worked as the chief lobbyist for the Organization for International Investment and worked as the chief of staff to Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) for nine years before that. Pemrick was the director of environment and energy programs at the American Council of Engineering Companies. He also served in the office of former Rep. Tim Holden (D-Pa.) for 12 years. 

• The Generic Pharmaceutical Association (GPhA) has poached Chester “Chip” Davis, Jr. from PhRMA to become its president and CEO. He currently serves as the pharmaceutical lobby’s executive vice president for advocacy and member relations. He begins the new role on Aug. 18. 

• The Electronic Transactions Association has hired Mary Albert as the director of regulatory affairs. Prior to that, she worked at COMPTEL as the group’s assistant general counsel and secretary. She has experience in private practice and as an attorney at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.