Two lobbyists made more than $1 million lobbying the Kentucky General Assembly last year

By Tom Loftus
Kentucky Lantern

In 2025 — for the first time — a lobbyist was paid more than $1 million to influence the actions of the Kentucky General Assembly.

Actually, reports filed with the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission this month show that two lobbyists were paid more than $1 million in 2025 for their work with the state legislature: Stephen Huffman was paid $1,153,500 for representing 25 different clients; M. Patrick Jennings was paid $1,123,988 to represent 85 clients, the reports show.

Lobbyists are, and have been for many years, the highest paid people who work in the state Capitol. Reports filed with the ethics commission show that a dozen were paid more than a half million dollars in 2025 to plead the cases of their clients with state legislators.

By contrast, Gov. Andy Beshear is paid $184,826 per year to govern the state, according to the Kentucky Transparency website. Ethics commission records show that 39 lobbyists made more than Beshear in 2025.

Kentucky Lantern has tracked the compensation of top lobbyists in recent years, and it wasn’t until 2024 that any came close to hitting $1 million. That was Jennings, who was paid $975,237 that year, according to ethics commission records.

But reports filed this month with the commission by the nearly 900 corporations, trade associations and other groups that are registered to lobby the legislature, show that the compensation of Huffman and Jennings sailed far above the $1 million mark in 2025.

Together, the nearly 900 groups reported paying more than $26.5 million in compensation to lobbyists in 2025.

‘A seat at the table’

“Businesses and organizations understand it’s important to have a strong presence through lobbying and campaign contributions so they have a chance to have a seat at the table,” said John Schaaf, a former general counsel and executive director of the ethics commission. “Whether they want a contract, regulatory relief, or a change in tax law, if a business is not on the playing field, they can’t win the game.”

Any citizen is free to contact his or her state senator or representative with a request or a concern, but if a person is paid to make a case for others to a legislator, that person is required to be registered as a legislative agent (or lobbyist) with the commission. Currently, there are 651 people registered to lobby the Kentucky General Assembly.

Some are executives of the company or group for which they lobby. For instance, executives of the largest lobbying presence in Frankfort, the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, are registered and the chamber reports the lobbying compensation of an executive based on the percentage of the executive’s time at work spent on lobbying state legislators.

But many are professional lobbyists like Huffman and Jennings who have contracts to represent the interests of many different corporations and groups before the legislature.

Huffman, who is with the lobbying firm Stoll Keenon Government Relations, declined to comment for this story.

Jennings responded with an email that said in part that he is proud that nearly 100 companies and associations have placed their trust in his lobbying firm, Commonwealth Alliances. 

“We maintain full transparency in our legislative reporting and hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards. We are proud of the work we do on behalf of our clients within Kentucky’s legislative and executive branches, as well as our longstanding bipartisan approach to advancing their interests,” Jennings said.

Stephen Huffman: Skyrocketing to the top

Huffman came to Frankfort in late 2003 as the chief of staff to the then-new Republican Lt. Gov. Steve Pence. Ethics commission records indicate he first registered as a lobbyist in 2008.

In the past decade he climbed to the top tier of highest paid lobbyists. In 2024, ethics commission records show Huffman ranked third with compensation of $773,800.

Last year, he skyrocketed to the top of the list.

His clients include large and small groups. Many clients are from the overlapping worlds of gambling and horse racing: Revolutionary Racing, The Red Mile, Keeneland Association, Jockey’s Guild, Kentucky Equine Education Alliance, and Brightstar Global Solutions.

Other clients are from energy, financial services, health care, construction, tobacco, health care, communications and local government. He represents a children’s home, a medical cannabis dispensary, a non-profit charity and a trade association that lobbies for freedom of speech on the internet.

M. Patrick Jennings: From one-time aide to lobbyist

A former legislative aide to U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, Jennings is finance chairman for the Republican Party of Kentucky. He became chief lobbyist for the Kentucky Farm Bureau in late 1999. In 2004, he began as a contract lobbyist and in 2008 started the firm Commonwealth Alliances.

His roster of 85 clients includes AT&T; Kentucky Hospital Association; Philip Morris International; American Wagering – Caesar’s Digital; Ed Choice Kentucky; Tik-Tok Inc.; Parents for School Options; Vapor Technology Association; Coinbase; Carewise Health; The Jockey Club; CSX Corp.; and the Kentucky Independent Pharmacy Alliance.

Here are the Kentucky legislative lobbyists who round out the top 10 money makers of 2025, along with what they earned and a sampling of the corporations and associations that pay them:

(Source: Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission)

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