About Eric Woomer
Eric Woomer is a governmental affairs consultant and lobbyist with extensive senior leadership experience advising legislators at the state and national level as well as Fortune 100 companies. He is well-regarded for his ability to research, analyze and synthesize issues quickly to design innovative public policy, and he offers his clients tactical political counsel as well as pragmatic solutions to achieve their policy goals.
For the past six years, Eric has provided political and legislative guidance to Texas energy & electricity companies, including Reliant Energy, a Houston-based electricity provider for more than 1.6 million customers, and Xcel Energy, among the nation’s largest electricity & natural gas companies, operating in eight states with more than $9 billion in annual revenue. Eric managed teams of contract lobbyists, oversaw Political Action Committee fundraising and distribution activities, and coordinated grassroots efforts to aid corporate policy development efforts. While at Reliant, he and his associates were ranked 7th among corporate in-house lobby teams in Capitol Inside magazine’s 2009 Lobby Power Rankings.
Prior to that time, Eric served as Chief of Staff and Legislative Director to three Texas state senators, both Republicans and Democrats, representing areas as widely diverse as the Texas Panhandle and the Houston Ship Channel. Eric successfully coordinated the legislative agendas, community activities, and media strategies for the senators, as well as directing Capitol, committee, and district personnel activities for staffs as large as twenty-one. Additionally, Eric served as Press Secretary for legendary U.S. Congressman J.J. “Jake” Pickle, a giant on the central Texas political landscape for more than a generation.
Armed with a proven track record of accomplishment, in 2010, Eric opened Policy Solutions, a full service public affairs consulting practice, based in Austin, Texas. Eric now offers his clients legislative tactical guidance and policy expertise on matters related to energy, natural resources, education, local & municipal economic development strategies, and the state budget. These abilities are complimented with media management skills and compelling collateral writing – speeches, legislative hearing testimony, press conferences & communications materials, briefings, newsletters and white papers.
Eric was born in Malawi, Africa, while his parents served in the Peace Corps. In 2002, he obtained his Masters of Public Affairs from the University of Texas’ Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs. He also received the LBJ Award for Academic Excellence, presented annually by former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson to the school’s top graduates.
A 1988 National Merit Scholar, Eric received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from the University of Texas in 1993. Eric resides in Austin, Texas with his son, Jackson.