[EL] Brian Lewis, Rest in Peace

[Sean Parnell]

Thanks for sharing this, Steve. Brian will indeed be missed.

Sean

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of Steve Hoersting
Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2016 2:01 PM
To: law-election at uci.edu
Subject: [EL] Brian Lewis, Rest in Peace


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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