Jim Obradovich
President and Lobbyist
For more than 25 years, Jim has been the voice and face of associations, businesses and not-for-profit organizations at the Iowa State Capitol. As a former award-winning broadcast journalist, Obradovich is known for his ability to successfully communicate issues and ideas to diverse audiences. He and The Capitol Group have an impressive track record of policy and appropriations successes at the Iowa Statehouse.
A native of Chicago, Jim is a graduate of Marist High School in Chicago and Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. He was a reporter and anchor at WVIK- FM and WKBF-AM in the Quad Cities. In 1989, he joined WHBF-TV in Rock Island, first as a reporter then advancing to morning news anchor. He left the world of journalism in 1992 and began his lobbying and public policy career in Des Moines. He gained association management and policy experience working for the League of Iowa Municipalities, the National Electrical Contractors Association, the Des Moines Construction Council and Master Builders of Iowa before launching The Capitol Group in 2000.
Jim is a frequent guest lecturer on the topics of state government, local government and political messaging at local and regional colleges and universities. He also serves the Catholic Diocese of Des Moines as a permanent deacon and director of the diaconate for the diocese. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Iowa Radio Reading Service for the Blind and Print Handicapped and the Calvin Community continuing care retirement center.
Robert Mulqueen
Policy Analyst and Lobbyist
Bob Mulqueen has influenced public policy on the local, state and national levels over the last 38 years. His work with members of both houses of Congress, Iowa governors, Iowa county officials, state agency directors, state department staff, and Iowa legislators, is marked with trust and accomplishment.
Bob was asked to put his work in the Statehouse to use in the executive branch, by Gov. Chet Culver, who tapped Bob as his first policy staff director. Gov. Culver then tasked Bob to write legislation to establish the Iowa Office of Energy Independence and the Iowa Power Fund, which Bob successfully ushered through the House and Senate.
In addition to his work at the Statehouse, Bob teaches public policy courses at Drake University, Grandview University and Des Moines Area Community College. Born and raised in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Bob is a graduate of Creighton University and earned a Master of Public Administration degree from Iowa State University.
Pete McRoberts
Political Strategist and Lobbyist
Whether it be writing speeches for Iowa governors, developing political strategies for state and federal agencies or authoring legal opinions regarding legislation, attorney Pete McRoberts' work has influenced public policy in the state of Iowa and nationally for 16 years. He has served in the senior management of Iowa’s executive branch and has shepherded bipartisan policy through the state legislature and through the federal government for commercial, nonprofit, and public interest entities.
Outside the lobby, he advised three governors, Congress, and the White House’s Office of Management and Budget on national service policy. He served through two presidential administrations as the advisory board chair for the country’s premier national service agency, and his judgment is trusted by national and world leaders.
McRoberts is from Cedar Falls, Iowa. He is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa and Drake Law School. He is a member of the Iowa Bar and a certified mediator.
make compromise not conflict