The Team

BOB RAFFERTY

Bob Rafferty is the Principal of the Rafferty Group.   He has over 30 years of experience involving government, government relations, and not-for-profit organizations.   A former legislator, he previously served as Chief of Staff and Director of the Department of Management under Iowa Governor Terry E. Branstad and as a consultant for Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack’s administration.   

He has worked closely with elected and appointed government officials in a variety of roles, including consulting with numerous state, local and international governments on strategic policy initiatives.  His long history in solving public policy challenges enables him to find innovative solutions for the important public policy needs and objectives of his clients.

The Rafferty Group leverages three key strategic partnerships to deliver the right balance of individualized, focused support while providing the breadth of experience, knowledge and resources for clients' demanding needs.

NICK LANING

Nick Laning, Government Affairs Manager, is an experienced government relations, public affairs, and public relations professional with a successful history of executing lobbying and issue campaigns. He began his journey in the political arena at a young age and has had the opportunity to work a number of political campaigns at the local, state, congressional, and even presidential level.

Nick’s career has included leading extensive public affairs issue campaigns, communications and public relations efforts, and marketing campaigns across the Midwest and country influencing state and federal policymakers and garnering media attention. He also spent a couple of sessions being fully immersed in the legislative process while working for a committee chairman in the Iowa House.

From legislative agenda development and interim planning to PAC management and issue campaigns, Nick specializes in elevating a client’s message and executing legislative strategies. Nick also leads on administrative rulemaking engagement and media relations efforts on behalf of our clients.

Nick was a member of Leadership Iowa’s 2022 class, the state’s premier professional leadership development program, and currently serves as the President of the John C. Culver Public Policy Center Alumni Association. Nick had a distinguished academic career at Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, where he was a Public Policy Fellow at the John C. Culver Public Policy Center, graduating with the highest academic honor and a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Northern Iowa.

LON ANDERSON

Lon has almost 30 years of experience in politics and government. He has been a multi-client lobbyist since 2015, serving a number of non-profit and for-profit clients.

Prior to that, Lon served as the Chief Deputy Director of the Department of Administrative Services (DAS). In this capacity, Lon served as chief financial officer for the department and was a leader in the effort to achieve Governor Terry Branstad's goal of reducing the cost of state government by at least 15 percent.

In addition, Lon has worked as a staff assistant for Congressman Fred Grandy, was a field staffer for the presidential campaign of Senator Lamar Alexander and was the lead staffer for the House Appropriations Committee for the Iowa House Republicans.

Lon received a BA degree in Business Administration from Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa, with a minor in political science.

Rob Szalay plays key roles in project management, planning and network development. He leads organization management and network development for Iowa Business for Clean Energy, a 501(c)(3) organization.

Rob’s leadership and project management skills were shaped by his service in the United States Marine Corps.   Since leaving the military, Rob has led and coordinated a number of community-oriented initiatives.

More recently, Rob has been active at the Capitol on education issues, including advocating for greater school choice options, engaging legislators, and testifying before legislative committees. 

Rob has also worked with local economic development officials to identify development opportunities throughout Iowa for affordable and market-rate multifamily housing. 

Rob earned his B.S. in Business Administration with a Human Resource Management focus from The Ohio State University.  

Advocacy Strategies

Bob and the team at Advocacy Strategies work together to support each other clients.  Threase Harms and Advocacy Strategy's lobbying and grassroots development team, provide decades of experience advocating on issues at the Iowa Capitol. 

Woodberry associates

Based in Washington DC, Woodberry Associates is a public affairs consultancy specializing in coalition management, bipartisan government relations and stakeholder advocacy. 

Newbury Living

Newbury Living, leveraging a variety of federal, state and local government incentives, helps communities redevelop blighted areas and create affordable housing for the communities' workforce needs.