A top-earning Annapolis lobbying firm is adding new muscle – including a prominent former state senator.
Perry, White, Ross & Jacobson announced Thursday that former Anne Arundel County Sen. James “Ed” DeGrange Sr. (D) and Prince George’s County government senior official Brad Frome are joining the firm. PWRJ also recently added former state Senate staffer MaeAnna Hassell.
DeGrange served in the Senate for 20 years before retiring in 2018, rising to become chairman of the Capital Budget and the Public Safety and Transportation & Environment subcommittees. DeGrange has also served on the Anne Arundel County Council and the Maryland Lottery Commission.
As senior consultant and strategist at PWRJ, DeGrange will advise clients on the most effective approach to state and local government projects and issues, the firm said.
“As a public servant, Ed earned the deep trust of colleagues, staff and constituents, and we are excited that he will continue to share his knowledge and experience,” PWRJ partner Tim Perry said in a statement.
After serving for 16 years in various state and local government leadership roles, Frome will join PWRJ as a government relations professional. He was a top aide to Prince George’s County executives Rushern L. Baker III (D) and Angela D. Alsobrooks (D), and has also worked for the General Assembly and the Prince George’s County Council.
“Brad understands the cross-section of how government works and how things get done,” said PWRJ partner Justin Ross, himself a former lawmaker and a close friend of Frome’s.
Hassell went to work for the firm earlier this year. She is a former chief of staff to ex-state Sen. Ulysses Currie (D) and has taken on the role of strategic partnerships manager at the firm.
Perry, White, Ross & Jacobson has a lengthy client list that includes health care providers, gaming companies, financial institutions, real estate interests and the Washington Redskins, among others.
According to recent filings with the State Ethics Commission, Perry, a former chief of staff to Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert), earned more than $1.6 million between Nov. 1, 2018 and April 30.
Jacobson, a former deputy secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment, earned $457,000. Ross, who spent 10 years in the House of Delegates, earned $439,000. Josh White, a former executive director of the Maryland Democratic Party, earned $281,000.
Josh Kurtz
Founding editor
Founding Editor Josh Kurtz is a veteran chronicler of Maryland politics and government. He began covering the State House in 1995 for The Gazette newspapers, and has been writing about state and local politics ever since. He was an editor at Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper, for eight years, and for eight years was the editor of E&E Daily, which covers energy and environmental policy on Capitol Hill. For 6 1/2 years Kurtz wrote a weekly column on state politics for Center Maryland and has written for several other Maryland publications as well. Kurtz regularly gives speeches and appears on TV and radio shows to discuss Maryland politics.
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