In a 6-1 vote, Leon County commissioners voted to abruptly break up with their longtime state and federal lobbying partners, Squire Patton Boggs and Capitol Alliance Group, in exchange for one of Florida’s top lobbying firms, The Southern Group.
The decision was made at the county’s latest meeting on July 8, as the board was presented legislative updates by staff following the 2025 Florida legislative session, which was edging toward a government shutdown.
The Capitol Alliance Group had been serving as the county’s contract state lobbyists since 2008, while Squire Patton Boggs served as federal lobbyists since 2002. Both companies had entered into a new five-year contract with the county in 2021, which included two automatic renewal years, one of which began at the beginning of the 2025 fiscal year and another at the beginning of the calendar year.
Ahead of the most recent legislative session at their 2025 State and Federal Legislative Priorities Workshop, county staff provided commissioners with options for additional lobbying services focusing primarily on appropriations, working to secure money for county projects and initiatives. In January, the county entered into a contract with the Southern Group for $40,000.
This was on top of the $85,000 and $100,000 annually the county paid for the Capitol Alliance and Squire Patton Boggs.
Some commissioners maintained The Southern Group was able to bring in more money for the county in one session than their previous partners had been able to do in a 10-year time span. They said making the change now, without a competitive bidding process, kept them ahead of the curve amid uncertain political times.
Lobbying in Tallahassee: a top commodity in the capital city
Home to the state Capitol, Tallahassee is also home to many lobbying firms.
The homegrown firm, Capitol Alliance Group, headed by Jeff Sharkey, is well-known among locals and boasts a star-studded list of clients such as Tesla and SpaceX, both companies headed by Elon Musk, Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville, PGA of America and more.
Over the years, they have worked with county leaders to identify and pursue legislative priorities and help shield the county from bills that would further usurp home rule and local control.
On the other hand is the Southern Group, which has seven offices throughout the state and has over 20 people working at their Tallahassee branch. They’ve continuously expanded throughout the country, now setting a foothold in Washington, D.C., in April of this year.
County commissioners expressed appreciation for their longtime firms and for some the decision was not easy, but necessary.
Commissioners jump on bandwagon for Southern Group
Commissioner Christian Caban was the one to bring the idea of moving forward with the Southern Group to the table, expressing no need to go ahead with a typical request for proposal period, saying the county had been shown proof of The Southern Group’s prowess after they “brought home the bacon.”
“We got $2.8 million and I’m very proud of that, because they were all on the Southside and I know Commissioner Proctor and I… Crawfordville highway is in the line of our district,” Caban said referencing money going towards FDOT for roadway work. “There was also $800,000 for Lake Munson water quality improvements, as we know, very important.”
In his first run for office in 2022, Caban secured early support and a full-throated endorsement from Paul Mitchell, a partner with The Southern Group, as reported by Florida Politics. The Southern Group has also been a significant political contributor to Caban’s campaign PAC, with 10 of its lobbyists contributing more than $10,000 in early 2024, according to a Tallahassee Democrat story last year.
Though they weren’t the only political contributors as Jeff Sharkey and Capitol Alliance Group, alongside other county consulting partners, also gave to Caban’s campaign in 2024, though their funds came in to a total of around $3,000.
“I want to be very firm in my response in saying no way shape or form will any contribution impact any decision that our office makes. As a commissioner I am not in the interest in wasting taxpayer dollars,” Caban said in an interview with the Tallahassee Democrat. “Over the last 10 years Leon County has not had a fair share of appropriations from the state.”
Caban asked staffed when the last time the county received this type of money for projects, noting their previous lobbying group only acquired a total of roughly $650,000 since 2016.
“We had a trial run with The Southern Group… and in one year they brought in $2.8 million and whether you want to call it a, you know, if you look at our priority funding, that’s $800,000, which is still more than we’ve had in the last 10 years,” Caban said. “That return on investment is significant.”
In a statement, Jeff Sharkey said the firm has “been honored” to represent Leon County for almost two decades.
“Although we are disappointed with the board’s decision to select another firm to replace us without going out to bid for the service,” he wrote, “we are proud of our service to the Board, the staff, the Leon County legislative delegation and the citizens of the community.”
Sharkey emphasized how this session his firm worked closely with the Florida Association of Counties to defeat multiple bills that, if passed, “would have cost the county tens of millions of dollars.”
“The facts will support that we have done an excellent job fighting to protect state employees, small businesses, the county’s financial budgets, and the quality of life in our community from legislative attacks on Home Rule, regulatory preemption legislation, and budget cuts,” he wrote.
One commissioner argued the bidding process matters
Commissioner Rick Minor was the lone dissenting vote, believing that the county should stick to the request for proposal process not only to see other offers but as well to see how much Southern Group would want for their services instead of the $200,000 Caban had proposed.
“What’s the rush with the legislative session ended?” he asked. “Our county administrator has told me during briefings … we have plenty of time to put this out, to bid, plenty of time.”
“There is more to the RFP than just a prediction of performance, there’s the documentation, you have conflict of interest disclosures, all those types of things, the actual amount that they want to charge us that we can compare with other responses to the bid,” Minor continued. “Those are essential parts of the RFP process that I think should be part of it.”
Commissioners Nick Maddox, David O’Keefe, Brian Welch and Bill Proctor acknowledged Minor’s concerns but showed support for Caban’s proposal, all for various reasons but saying the money the firm brought home was the overriding factor.
“It just really doesn’t sit right with me, usually with me, to not do open, competitive bid and all that, but what’s clear is, in this, this is not widgets and this is not auditing services,” O’Keefe said. “This is very specific, very specialized and … I appreciate the motion doesn’t waste staff’s time when we know what we want.”
Proctor respectfully disagreed with Minor and even pointed to the recent presidential pick at Florida A&M as reason the process no longer worked and in this day and age all that mattered were connections, both politically and professionally.
“After looking at the Florida A&M University search for president, the damn process ain’t worth a damn and you know, of all due respect…but you just don’t respect respect when respect don’t respect you back,” Proctor said.
“The process is who’s connected, who’s got juice, who’s got game, who’s got connections? That is where it is.”
Commissioner Carolyn Cummings had been on the fence throughout the discussion, admitting she originally would’ve sided with Minor being and sticking to established process, but she said that Proctor’s comments provided her a new point of view that brought her over to the majority.
“You might have, you might feel that you have the best procedures adopted. You try to follow those procedures, but in this day and time, that might not be the ultimate final decision, even if you follow you procedures,” Cummings said.
“We’re living in a world now where we recognize the power of political engagement, political involvement, the power of political comradery, and I think it’s incumbent upon us to look holistically at what’s best for the citizens of Lean County.”
Arianna Otero is the trending and breaking news reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact her via email at AOtero@tallahassee.com and follow her on X: @ari_v_otero.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Leon commission forgoes bid process, breaks up with longtime lobbyists for Southern Group
Reporting by Arianna Otero, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
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