Plurus Strategies Expands to Prepare for 2020 Elections

Building on more than 60 collective years of experience in federal and state government, political campaigns, consulting, and government affairs, Plurus Strategies is pleased to announce its expansion by welcoming three new members to its team.

“As we approach the end of our third year in business, we find we are routinely sharing political insights with our clients, including on the prospects for a Democratic White House come November,” said David Leiter, president and co-founder of Plurus Strategies. “Given the dynamic environment and our efforts to closely monitor top tier Democratic presidential campaigns and tossup House and Senate races, we thought it would be strategic to grow our bandwidth to service existing clients and explore new business.”

Leiter, who previously served in the Senate as chief of staff to John Kerry (D-MA), is no stranger to Democratic politics. As Leiter and other members of the Plurus Strategies team, including Executive Vice President Georgette Kerr and Vice President Sarah Litke, enjoy relationships with various campaigns and Democratic party leadership, the firm has been advising clients on how they might strategically engage with candidates and plan for the political landscape of the future.

In recent days, Plurus Strategies is finding that while preparing for 2021 and the 117th Congress remain priorities for clients, the 2020 race has been increasingly overshadowed by COVID-19. The entire Plurus Strategies team is now on the frontlines with clients in multiple industry sectors working with federal, state, and local governments to address the public health crisis and to identify solutions to preserve the American way of life and protect the economy under increasing restrictions aimed at stemming the spread of the virus.

“While this unusual time of teleworking, fast-paced legislating, and hasty policy implementation is not how we envisioned introducing and integrating our new colleagues,” Leiter continued, “the reality is we are now even better positioned to service all our clients who are responding to the pandemic. We have more eyes and ears in Washington, more issue area expertise, and an even more comprehensive team-based approach to fighting and winning for our clients.”

Originally from Arkansas, Olivia Gardner joins Plurus Strategies as a policy analyst who will strengthen the firm’s existing healthcare, transportation, and infrastructure practices. Prior to joining Plurus Strategies, Gardner worked in the healthcare association space, including for the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). She also has Capitol Hill experience having worked for the House Committee on Ethics and the Senate Committee on Rules.

Paul Eppler, who hails from Pennsylvania, also joins Plurus Strategies as policy analyst. Eppler will use his experience to help grow Plurus Strategies’ work on energy, environment, trade, and tax issues. He has previously worked at Akin Gump Hauer & Feld LLP as a paralegal focused on import/export compliance and trade agreements. Additionally, Eppler was a member of the firm’s Corporate Social Responsibility practice, where he educated clients about industry best practices on environmental and labor issues. Eppler also served as a legal assistant at Davis and Harman LLP, where he conducted research on tax policy.

Finally, in the coming weeks, Plurus Strategies will transition Claire Washburn, an Illinois native, to a fulltime legislative assistant role. Washburn, who has been interning at Plurus Strategies while completing a degree in international studies at American University, will continue to support Plurus Strategies’ leadership on defense, foreign policy, technology, and telecommunications issues.

Plurus Strategies, LLC, is a Washington, D.C.,-based boutique, multi-issue government relations firm aimed at providing more for our clients: more intelligence, strategies, access, advocacy, and expertise. Plurus represents a broad set of public and private corporations and trade associations on a wide variety of issues before the federal government.

View the press release here.

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