The first client of Sen. Bob Menéndez's (D-N.J.) former top legislative staffer is a giant of the pharmaceutical industry, an industry which Menéndez has championed.
Karissa Willhite, now working as a principal for Ogilvy Government Relations, has filed her first lobbying papers for her activities with AstraZeneca, the multinational with U.S. headquarters in Delaware. The former Hill staffer is helping the European corporation with efforts to reform Medicaid, Medicare and the tax code, among other issues. In 2009, her former boss opposed an amendment that would have enabled cheaper medications from being imported from Canada and other countries. Merck and Co., another pharmaceutical conglomerate, is one of many drug companies throughout the Garden State
Prior to her move to Farragut Square, Willhite served as the deputy chief of staff for policy for the past eight years. She also worked for the New Jersey Democrat as a policy director in the House Democratic Caucus and as a legislative assistant in his personal office. Willhite started her political career with Rep. Charlie Stenholm (D-Texas), first as a legislative correspondent before being promoted to legislative assistant.
