Levick expands with former GOP Rep. Mack

Former Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) has joined Levick Strategic Communications, as it aims to expand its representation of international entities.

Mack, an executive vice president at the firm, has officially been with the firm for about a month, he told The Hill.

Democratic strategist Lanny Davis, also an executive vice president at Levick, recruited him to the firm. The two became close friends in 2009 after Davis testified in front of a congressional panel on which Mack sat.

When Mack heard that the former counsel to President Bill Clinton would be speaking, “I spent a good couple of days preparing to just beat the crap out of him,” Mack recalls.

On the day of the hearing, however, it turned out that the two had views in common. While Davis opposed the forced exile of former Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, he and Mack agreed on the regognition of the newly elected government under internationally supervised elections.

“I remember listening to it and going, ‘Oh no. My arguments are not going to work,’” he said.

{mosads}Davis told The Hill he had similar a preparation strategy, but kept looking over during his statements to see Mack nodding.

After the hearing, he said, “I was intending to go up to him and introduce myself, and he came up to me first.”

“It was an instinctive reaction” and an “instant friendship,” Davis said.

Davis says he and Mack had talked over the years about taking a different approach to foreign representation – an idea that has finally come to fruition. 

While foreign governments, individuals or businesses will often hire Washington help as an “insurance policy,” Davis said, he hoped that Mack could help Levick boost the practice to cover more bipartisan ground and create “solution-focused” representation for entities “that have a specific problem or challenge or need that needs solving. “

Mack will travel often between Washington and Florida, and Levick is looking to open an office in Miami, Mack told The Hill.

While Levick has long specialized in PR and crisis communications, it has made moves in Washington to step up its advocacy work. 

Last year, it named former Dutko CEO Mark Irion as president, and earlier this year, Levick acquired Dow Lohnes Government Strategies – the lobbying arm of law firm Dow Lohnes that went untouched in its merger with another law firm, Cooley.

“Connie is a perfect fit for the kind of communications-supported advocacy capabilities we’re creating at Levick because he knows firsthand what is effective in building consensus and helping legislators do the right thing,” Irion said in a statement. “Our goal is to build consensus around what’s true and unwind the spin on behalf of our clients.”

“Connie Mack embodied that as a legislator and brings that same ethic to Levick as a communicator,” Irion continued. 

Mack said that Levick’s integrated approach was another draw to the firm. 

“It’s one thing to walk into members’ office and try to get them to vote a certain way, but the real way for that to be done is by making sure the communications side is leading in that effort,” he said, “so you have government communications and public relations all wrapped up into one.” 

Since losing a Senate bid in 2012, Mack has already been a part of one lobbying firm, Liberty Partners Group, and more recently also forged out on his own. 

One of those firms, Mack Strategies, signed American Task Force Argentina, a group that seeks to recollect billions due to U.S. investors following the debt default of the South American country, and Sheldon Adelson-led casino giant Las Vegas Sands Corp.

Mack – who represented Florida’s 14th District from 2005 to 2013 – does not shy away from an adversarial challenge.

In June, Liberty International Group – another one of Mack’s Florida-based firms – subcontracted with public affairs firm DCI Group to resolve “a financial dispute between Doral Financial Institution and the Government of Puerto Rico.” The client, Doral Financial, is the holding company for Puerto Rico’s second largest mortgage lender. 

The company claims it is owned millions in tax refunds, and while the government and Doral reached an agreement in 2012, the country’s treasury voided the deal, saying it was obtained through fraud. That case, which is playing out in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is still ongoing. 

It is still unclear if Mack will be taking any clients with him to Levick and which of the firm’s clients the former congressman will be involved with. 

While in Congress, he was the chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere and as a member of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia. He also served on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Davis is also a columnist for The Hill. 

— This story was updated at 10:00 p.m.