Revolving door spins as Missouri Senate leader leaps to lobbying corps

JEFFERSON CITY — The outgoing leader of the Missouri Senate is trading in his gavel for a job as a lobbyist in the halls of the Capitol. Senate President Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, will join former House Speaker Steve Tilley’s influential lobbying firm in January after eight years in the Legislature’s upper chamber. Rowden is term-limited and chose not to run for Congress or a statewide office this year to extend his political career.

In an announcement Wednesday by Strategic Capitol Consulting, Tilley disclosed the hire, calling the addition of Rowden a key for his company. “In the complex and evolving field of public policy, driving meaningful change requires a deep understanding of Missouri politics and advocacy, which Caleb Rowden brings in spades,” Tilley said in a statement. Rowden’s decision comes five months after a federal court tossed out a law requiring a two-year “cooling off” period before lawmakers and legislative staffers can jump into the lobbying ranks.



The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the waiting period violated the free speech rights of former state Rep. Rocky Miller, a Lake Ozark Republican, and General Assembly employee John LaVanchy, both who sued in 2021 seeking to jettison the prohibition approved by voters in 2018. The ruling put Missouri back on track to see members of the House and Senate move quickly to the lobbying corps , which can pay better than the $39,000 salary they receive as lawmakers.

The two-year waiting period is commonly referred to as a revolving door prohibition, aimed at preventing elected officials from currying favor from special interests while in office and from having undue influence on former colleagues after leaving office. The court wrote that the two-year prohibition was too lengthy. “Similar laws enacted in other states suggest that Missouri might have been able to get by with a shorter period.

Its own expert highlighted some of the possibilities, from six months (like North Carolina) to one year (like New Mexico), even though both states have two-year election cycles like Missouri,” the court said. In 2016, as a member of the House, Rowden sponsored legislation that would impose a one-year revolving door ban for lawmakers, saying it would improve the public’s perception of the Capitol. A Post-Dispatch tally found dozens of former Missouri legislators who have registered to wine and dine their former colleagues, including Tilley, who has a lengthy roster of clients and is an ally and fundraiser for Gov.

Mike Parson. Others include former Senate Presidents Michael Gibbons and Tom Dempsey, both of whom patrol the same marble corridors on behalf of their clients that they walked when they were serving in the Legislature. At least 32 states impose waiting periods for lawmakers looking to move into lobbying, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

At Tilley’s firm, Rowden will serve as director of strategic advocacy, combining his legislative experience in the Senate and as a member of the House, as well as his media and marketing background. Before he launched his political career, Rowden was a Christian rock artist, putting out compilations of his work from 2006 to 2009. Earlier this week, as Rowden moved out of his corner office on the third floor of the Capitol, he said he likely would be back in the Capitol at some point in the near future.

“I am thrilled to join the team at Strategic Capitol Consulting, one of Missouri’s leading firms in lobbying and advocacy,” said Rowden. “Joining SCC provides a tremendous opportunity to continue advocating for sound public policy on behalf of individuals and businesses across Missouri, allowing me to further my service to this great state.” Rowden was elected to the Missouri Senate in 2016, representing Boone and Cooper counties.

Before his tenure in the Senate, he served two terms in the Missouri House of Representatives, having first been elected in 2012. Strategic Capitol Consulting has been at the center of the rapid rise of unregulated slot machines that have flooded Missouri gas stations and bars. The company represents one of the gambling industry’s largest companies, Wildwood-based Torch Electronics.

Through Torch and a constellation of political action committees, lawmakers and statewide officials have received million of dollars in campaign contributions. Efforts to regulate and tax the machines have stalled in the Senate under heavy lobbying pressure from Tilley and his partners. In February, Treasurer Vivek Malek backtracked on a decision to partner with Torch to promote the state’s unclaimed property program after members of a House committee put him on the ethical hotseat for hours.

The plan called for affixing 31⁄2-by-2-inch stickers to the company’s slot machines. The stickers included the official seal of the treasurer’s office and prominently featured Malek’s name, potentially signaling to players that the games are sanctioned by the state. Strategic Capitol Consulting also was involved in an effort to defeat plans to bring a casino to the Lake of the Ozarks.

The firm represents the Osage Nation, which has a competing plan to open a tribal casino at the popular recreation spot..