Attorney General Dave Sunday Faces Questions Over Ties to Lobbying Firm

Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday is facing growing questions about the relationship between his administration and a Harrisburg lobbying firm that played a major role in helping elect him. In 2024, Long Nyquist & Associates helped run Sunday’s successful campaign for Attorney General. After the election, Ben Wren, who managed Sunday’s campaign through the firm, was brought into the administration as deputy chief of staff.

Then came one of Sunday’s earliest high-profile personnel decisions. Consumer Advocate Patrick Cicero was pushed out of his role. According to Spotlight PA, Cicero said he was asked to resign shortly after Sunday took office. Cicero had been one of the state’s most outspoken critics of efforts to privatize public water systems. And Long Nyquist represents water utility interests.

That does not prove a direct connection. Yet, the optics are hard to ignore.

Long Nyquist is a powerful lobbying firm with deep ties in Harrisburg and a client list packed with corporate and institutional interests. The firm has long operated at the intersection of lobbying and political influence, a setup that often fuels concerns about access and insider relationships.
The Cicero situation fits that pattern uncomfortably well.

The Consumer Advocate’s office exists specifically to represent the public in fights involving utilities and consumer costs. Cicero had taken aggressive positions against private water acquisitions, arguing they could drive up costs for consumers. At the same time, companies connected to those debates had representation from the same firm tied closely to Sunday’s political operation.

Long Nyquist has also represented clients opposed to certain victims’ rights legislation, adding to broader questions about how much influence well-connected lobbying firms can wield once allies move into government.

None of this means rules were broken. But it does feed a familiar concern in Pennsylvania politics. The revolving door between campaigns, lobbying, and public office can make it difficult for voters to tell where political strategy ends and governing begins.

For an Attorney General whose office is supposed to function independently and protect the public interest, that perception matters.
When one of the first major staffing shakeups appears to align with the interests of a politically connected lobbying firm, people are going to ask whether the public is really the one calling the shots.