With more than two decades of experience navigating state and federal policy, Robb Bohannon brings a unique perspective to his role as Hunton’s director of government affairs. Known for building consensus and developing effective strategies, he helps clients navigate complex legislative and regulatory matters, with a particular emphasis on transportation, environmental, retail, and local government issues. Learn more about Robb in the Q&A below.
What initially drew you to government affairs, and how has your approach to advocacy evolved over your career?
I distinctly remember two things as a kid that sparked my interest in politics.
I loved the show Family Ties, and particularly loved Alex P. Keaton. As a kid who had an interest in news and current affairs, I saw someone, albeit fictional, who had similar interests as me. In 1992, which was my freshman year of high school, MTV heavily covered the presidential election through Rock the Vote. As it was the grunge era, I was a kid who watched MTV religiously, and I saw the musicians and personalities I loved engaging in the political process. I also may have been the only kid in my middle school who begged his parents to let him watch JFK. It is rated R after all.
After graduating from Virginia Tech in 2000 as a political science major, I moved to Washington, D.C., where I became a legislative assistant at a trade association. There, I saw the state and federal process up close and personal, and really enjoyed working with colleagues to solve complex legislative problems, crafting messages and finding the information that supported our members’ needs. I loved the idea of being involved in political issues that were being debated across the country.
When I first started out, I had strong partisan feelings on a lot of issues, and I quickly learned to put those aside and focus on the issues at hand and to concentrate on developing relationships across the political spectrum. Understanding what personally drives a legislator, other than their political party, is often more beneficial in working with them and helping my clients achieve their goals.
Your work spans a wide range of industries and policy areas. What do you enjoy most about working across such a diverse portfolio?
I often describe my work to others as like being an actor – you get to try on different and diverse roles every day. During a busy day at the Capitol, I can discuss legislative issues related to construction, health care, golf courses, energy, and the entertainment industry – sometimes all within the same hour! Put a different way, I describe it as good for someone like me who has “professional ADHD” where I don’t like doing the same thing over and over again, and I enjoy having new challenges each day.
I appreciate knowing how all the different industries and companies we represent make Virginia work and helping them find success. I was born and raised here and want to see Virginia continue to be a great place to live, work, and raise a family.
What makes Virginia’s policymaking environment unique, and how does that shape the way you represent your clients in the commonwealth?
Virginia is a fascinating place to work. Our proximity to Washington, D.C. means that federal politics often spill into our policymaking. Our recent political transformation from a reliable Republican state, to politically competitive, to a fairly reliable Democratic state has brought new attention and stakeholders into the political and policymaking processes. Virginia seems increasingly like a bellwether state in which various interests attempt to implement and refine policies and tactics that will then be applied in other states.
Virginia also has relatively short legislative sessions that last just 45-days in odd years and 60-days in even years. This means that significant work must be performed on the front end to ensure a client’s priority is ready for swift action once the legislature convenes. Because of this speed and pace, it can be challenging for clients to break through the noise without a representative who brings their own relationships and credibility to the Capitol.
It’s often said that Virginia’s biggest differences aren’t political, but regional. We’re home to some of the most populous and wealthy counties in the country, and we also have rural regions where infrastructure and jobs aren’t as plentiful. The work often requires you to bridge some of those differences and build consensus amongst legislators who have very different perspectives, sometimes even within their own political parties because of regionalism.
Virginia is the only state in the nation where a governor cannot run for consecutive terms. This means that every four years there is a new governor, new cabinet secretaries, and new staff with whom to develop relationships.
All of this makes the relationship building that much more important. Virginia does not have term limits, but increasingly in recent years, we have had a lot of turnover in our General Assembly. In 2024, nearly half of the 40-member Senate was serving its first term, and one-third of the 100-member House of Delegates was newly elected.
What do you value most about being part of NASL, and how does the opportunity to connect with peers across the country benefit your work?
Like working in the Virginia General Assembly, it’s the relationships. While connecting with peers across the country is good for business development, it’s also an invaluable tool for my existing clients. Knowing I am a member of NASL, clients will often call and share that a crisis is erupting in a particular state and ask for a trusted referral. Recognizing that I have a network of professionals I can refer them to is invaluable, and I always offer to accompany the client if the crisis happens to be in Hawaii.
Additionally, many of my NASL colleagues represent the same companies. It is incredibly beneficial to be able to pick up the phone and discuss how they handled a particular issue and learn from their collective expertise.
To connect with Robb or learn more about Hunton, visit hunton.com.