Blake Oshiro, a longtime state lawmaker and Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s former deputy chief of staff, has joined Capitol Consultants of Hawaii to become a partner in one of the state’s most high-powered lobbying firms.
Oshiro, 45, served as a member of the state House of Representatives for 11 years, including a stint in the power position of House Democratic majority leader from 2008 to 2011.
He served in the Abercrombie Cabinet for three years and was considered a key strategist in the push to legalize same-sex marriage in Hawaii during a 2013 special session.
Oshiro joins former Abercrombie Chief of Staff Bruce Coppa at the Capitol Consultants firm, which listed more than three dozen clients on its most recent disclosures filed with the state Ethics Commission. Those clients ranged from Monsanto Co. and AT&T to the Motion Picture Association of America and Charley’s Taxi.
Last year the firm also represented at least one client that was pressing lawmakers to establish medical marijuana dispensaries: the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 480, which has worked in other states to organize employees in the marijuana industry.
Oshiro said he worked well with Coppa in the Governor’s Office and that Capitol Consultants has “a large book of business, and I think there’s a good opportunity for me to expand some of my lobbying skills and really start delving to the policy work that I enjoy doing.”
Capitol Consultants Chairman and co-founder G.A. “Red” Morris said in a written statement that Coppa has boosted the firm by helping expand its client base.
John Radcliffe, president and co-founder of Capitol Consultants, described Oshiro as a master of the legislative process. “He has also worked closely with all branches of state government, along with officials and agencies at the federal and county levels,” he said.
“Bruce and Blake made a great team under the previous administration and we are thrilled to have Blake, with his high level of expertise in government relations, join CCH to carry on our legacy of positive advocacy for clients,” Morris said in the written announcement.
To anyone who might question a move by two top Abercrombie staffers to a prominent state lobbying company, Oshiro said that “part of lobbying is relationships and networks, but at the end of the day, policymakers, elected officials, legislators have minds of their own, and they’re going to do what they think is in the best interests of the constituents, the state and possibly even themselves.”
“Our job is really to provide the information and make sure that there’s a good conduit for communication of that information,” Oshiro said.
“For me, after 11 years in the state Legislature and then three years in the Governor’s Office, 14 years of public service really was … enough for me, and so I really looked forward to getting back into the private sector.”
Although he worked as a lawyer while he was in politics, “it never really allowed me to advance my career that specifically, so once I got out of public service, once I decided it was the right time, I really could start focusing on what I see as my own career trajectory,” Oshiro said.
He started his new job Jan. 1 and said he expects his new duties will include lobbying on issues related to fantasy football as well as tax issues related to Airbnb, which offers online vacation and other rentals.
After leaving the Abercrombie administration, Oshiro worked as director of counsel for Alston Hunt Floyd &Ing’s government relations division.
The firm also announced Radcliffe will retire as the firm’s president to become president emeritus. Radcliffe, who said he has witnessed 40 opening days at the Legislature, joked that he’s “thinking about staying home” when the new session begins Wednesday.
Radcliffe said his work at the Legislature “is always enjoyable, but you have to go sometime and you have to bring in new people, and I can’t think of anybody better than Blake and Bruce. They’re excellent at what they do.”
Radcliffe, 73, has been undergoing treatment for liver and colon cancer. He plans to continue to work for clients this year including the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly faculty union and the Motion Picture Association, as well as Reynolds American and Diageo North America, which are tobacco and liquor interests, respectively.
