Lobbying world

• Akin Gump has named five attorneys in its Washington office as partners, including Melissa Laurenza. Laurenza, who previously served as an adviser to the Federal Election Commission and an aide to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), is a member of the firm’s public law and policy practice. She focuses on campaign finance and lobbying registration law.

• Thorn Run Partners hired Harriet Melvin as its 10th partner. Melvin spent 10 years at Quinn Gillespie & Associates, but she comes from a firm she founded in 2010 called The Capitol Group. Prior to that, she served as the director of federal government affairs for Circuit City Stores and CarMax. She also has association experience, having worked as a legislative representative for the National Federation of Independent Business. Melvin is also active in groups that encourage women to get engaged in politics, including VIEW PAC (Value in Electing Women) and RightNOW.

• Barney Keller left his post as communications director at the Club for Growth to become an executive vice president at Jamestown Associates, a consulting firm in Washington. According to a farewell email, he will still handle press inquiries and provide strategic advice to the organization “in the immediate future.”

• West Front Strategies, a new firm founded by five former Blank Rome lobbyists, opened its doors on Monday. The bipartisan team — Cindy Brown, Ashley Davis, Malloy McDaniel, Kristi Remington, and Shimmy Stein — have experience on Capitol Hill, at the White House and within executive branch agencies. On the Hill, McDaniel most recently worked for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), while Stein served as an adviser to former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.). Brown worked at The Campaign to Fix the Debt, and, before that, as chief of staff to Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.). Both Davis and Remington served in the George W. Bush administration.

• Van Scoyoc Associates has named John Anderson a vice president at the firm. He previously served as the Republican staff director for a House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee and specializes in water resource issues. He also spent 26 years in the Army Corps of Engineers.