New York Rep. Charlie Rangel (D) is well-known for having a close group of K Street confidantes, but Rep. Sander Levin (D-Mich.), his successor as chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, isn’t going to be lonely holding the gavel. He, too, has a plethora of K Streeters and former staffers waiting in the wings as the tax-writing panel begins its work in earnest.
Levin aides-turned-lobbyists include Eric Gould and Holly Bode. Gould, a partner at Thurman Gould, lobbies on behalf of Miami-Dade County in Florida, ARA Safety Inc. and Global Baggage Protection Systems. A lobbyist at Ernst & Young, Bode is registered to work for a number of corporate clients including Aetna, the American Staffing Association, Boeing Co. and the Association of American Railroads.
Levin also has longtime ties going back to Michigan with Gary Lytle of Clark Lytle & Geduldig. Lytle has known Levin and his brother, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), since the early 1970s, when Lytle was a state lobbyist for Michigan Bell. “He is a very dogged competitor,” Lytle said of facing Rep. Levin on the squash court. The pair also both lost their wives to cancer.
While Lytle no longer plays squash, he says he still sees Levin on the political court as a federal lobbyist. Lytle counts such companies as AT&T, Fidelity Investments and Bloomberg as clients.
