Who We Are

Two principals,
both sides of the table.

Between them, our principals have run winning campaigns, served three governors, moved contested legislation, and built a state program office from nothing. That combination is unusual, and it is the reason clients call us.

The Firm

Small by design.

Pathfinder Public Affairs is a Montgomery-based public affairs firm working in government relations, advocacy, campaigns, and crisis counsel. We are deliberately small: when you hire us, the people in the room are the people whose names are on the door.

We do not staff engagements with juniors and we do not take on work we cannot personally carry. That limits how many clients we can serve at once, which is a feature — in a building where relationships are the currency, over-extension is how firms lose credibility.

Alabama is home and the majority of our work. When a client's issue crosses a state line, we carry it into other Southeastern statehouses — and when it reaches Washington, we have standing relationships across Alabama's congressional delegation in both chambers.

Leadership

The principals

Chairman

David L. Mowery

A public affairs executive with over 20 years of experience, a renowned campaign consultant, and a sought-after strategic advisor in Alabama and throughout the country. David has run and advised campaigns for statewide officeholders, legislators, judges, and mayors, and he is a regular voice in national political coverage.

His campaign background is what clients draw on when an issue needs public pressure rather than a private meeting — polling, message discipline, coalition building, and paid communication that actually moves a district.

CNN Contributor Host, Now More Than Ever podcast AAPC 40 Under 40, inaugural class UGA 40 Under 40, The University of Georgia Multiple Pollie and Reed Awards Rising Star, Campaigns & Elections

Chief Operating Officer

John J. Schremser, III

John served on the staff of two Alabama governors and managed some of the most complex legislation to move through the State House in that period. He can show you how to navigate government processes so they work in your favor — because he ran them.

After the E-Verify statute passed, John stood up the state office that administers it. Few advocates in Alabama have both lobbied a program into existence and then operated it, and that perspective changes the advice a client gets: not just whether a bill can pass, but whether the agency can implement it.

Stood up Alabama's E-Verify state program office Alabama Broadband Grant Program Formation of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) Alabama's immigration law Staff of three Alabama governors

How We Work

What an engagement looks like

An honest read

Before you retain us, we tell you whether what you want is achievable, what it will cost politically, and who will fight it. Sometimes that conversation ends with us telling you not to spend the money.

A named strategy

Specific committees, specific members, specific sequence, specific timeline against the session calendar. Not a retainer and a promise to "monitor."

Execution, in the room

We are physically in the State House when it matters, and you hear from us the same day — including when the news is bad.

Audentes Fortuna Iuvat

Want references?

We don't publish client names, but we will arrange a conversation with a current client — with their permission.

Get in Touch

Two principals,both sides of the table.