[EL] Brian Lewis, Rest in Peace

[Steve Hoersting]

As you may have heard, this December brings with it the passing of Brian
Lewis, a longtime Counselor to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Brian was a people person, in the traditional sense, and in a manner far
more meaningful. In the time I'd known him, I'd never known him to make a
disagreement personal or a negotiation acrimonious -- whether the
disagreement was inter-party or intra, or the negotiation
nation-shaping or *pro
forma* (though Brian often had a nickname for, or interesting take on,
nearly everyone. He was a quick wit).

Brian loved campaign law, and was an autodidact; cutting his teeth at the
turn-of-the-Century both at the RNC and the NRSC legal shop under Craig
Engle.

But he'd soon decided that Republican candidates were well represented, and
the compliance field well covered. So, like all good operatives, Brian
moved to the fields that most needed tending: long-range strategy, talent
scouting, and recruiting. I suppose it is okay to say, now, that he put me
at the NRSC in 2003, and put dozens of other speech advocates into
positions much more consequential. Brian always took a principled stand on
the pressing issues of speech and campaign law -- always. And, as I sit
here, it is difficult to recall a large or important battle waged over the
past 15 years to which Brian was not somehow a factor. "Six Degrees of
Kevin Bacon." Six Degrees of Brian Lewis.

The listserv is a niche audience. And perhaps many of you had the pleasure
of knowing or working with Brian -- or perhaps the pleasure of working
against him.

For most Americans, Brian was perhaps the most effective free-speech
advocate you'd never heard of... perhaps as most movie fans have never
heard the name Kevin Huvane
<http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/most-influential/the-15-most-powerful-agents-in-hollywood/>,
or most music fans the name John Kalodner
<https://www.google.com/#q=john+kalodner>.

He will be missed; he is missed already.

May he rest in peace.

R. Brian Lewis, 47, of Washington D.C., passed away December 15, 2016.
Graduate of Lincoln Southeast High School, Texas Christian University, and
South Texas Law School, JD 1994. Legal counsel for Senator Mitch
McConnell's office.

A longtime presence in the U.S. Senate, he was most recently counsel to the
office of Senate Majority Leader. He previously was a counsel on the Senate
Rules Committee and worked at both the National Republican Senatorial
Committee and the RNC.

Family: parents, Judy and Bill Lewis; brother, Brad (Michele) Lewis,
Coronado, Calif.; sister,, Kathryn (Eric) Blissmer, Huntington Beach,
Calif.; nieces and nephews, Elizabeth Lewis, Keely, Riley, Cody, Quinn
Blissmer.

Celebration of life: 11 a.m., Tuesday, Church of the Ascension and Saint
Agnes, 1217 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington D.C., 20005. Memorials may be
directed to the church.
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