Former Rep. Gerald McCormick hired as political consultant
“No one knows Tennessee politics or the everchanging legislature like he does.”
— TOM INGRAM, FOUNDER OF THE INGRAM GROUP
Prominent Nashville consulting firm The Ingram Group is expanding its government relations practice, bringing on former state Rep. Gerald McCormick.
McCormick, R-Chattanooga, announced earlier this year he would not seek re-election to the legislature, resigning from the House of Representatives on Oct. 1.
As former House Majority Leader, McCormick carried much of Gov. Bill Haslam’s legis- lation, including Tennessee Promise, a program that offers Tennessee residents two years of free college tuition. He chaired the Budget Subcommittee of the House Finance, Ways and Means Committee.
“We’re very fortunate to add Gerald to our team,” said Tom Ingram, founder of the strategic consulting firm and former chief of staff to Republican U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander. “No one knows Tennessee politics or the ever-changing legislature like he does.”
The Ingram Group, based in Nashville and Washington, D.C., has also tapped Garrett Johnson, Haslam’s outgoing deputy director of legislation.
Johnson previously worked as McCormick’s policy and research analyst, as well as in positions with the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the Attorney General’s office.
“Reuniting Gerald and Garrett as a team puts The Ingram Group in the position of having one of the strongest teams on the Hill,” Ingram said in a news release on the hirings. “We will be well-situated to navigate the legislature’s landscape and best serve our client base.”
In addition to Alexander and Haslam, Ingram has overseen winning Republican political campaigns for Gov. Don Sundquist and U.S. Sens. Fred Thompson and Bob Corker.
McCormick announced in June that he was leaving the legislature, a position he had held for 14 years, for a job with Chattanooga-based Asa Engineering and Consulting that required him to move to Nashville as part of an expansion.
He will bring on Asa as a client at The Ingram Group.
His hiring comes as the firm just acquired Poe Consulting, bringing together Ingram and Alexia Poe, two of Tennessee’s most influential political communications strategists. The duo worked together under Alexander.
Dean Rice, former chief of staff to Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett, was also recently brought on to the Ingram team.
Both McCormick and Johnson will be based in The Ingram Group’s Nashville office, located downtown in the First Tennessee building.
The firm, founded by Ingram in 1983, provides general corporate strategy, government relations services, communications strategy, crisis management and political consulting.