Our leadership
Travis Johnson
- 703-219-8905
- tjohnson@1607strategies.com
With 15 years of leadership experience in Congress, Travis has worked with prominent members of key House and Senate committees. These include banking and finance, energy and commerce, and appropriations, among others. Since 2016, he has advised small to Fortune 500 companies and trade associations across the financial services, insurance, healthcare, manufacturing, security, and transportation industries.
Travis was named one of The Hill’s Top Lobbyists in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Travis spent almost seven years in the Louisiana delegation, ending as Deputy Chief of Staff to former Senator David Vitter, Chairman of the Senate Small Business Committee and a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee where he developed a strong working relationship with the current Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA). While there, he formed a reputation of forging unexpected bipartisan partnerships to pass legislation. Travis’ relationships span the Speaker’s office, Congress, the Administration, and banking regulators, including the SBA, FDIC, SEC, Federal Reserve, CFTC, OCC, and Export-Import Bank.
Select Bipartisan Legislative Accomplishments:
- Worked with Speaker Johnson and his staff on issues facing the House Armed Services and Judiciary committees, including provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act and launching an antitrust investigation into abuses of the shareholder proxy process.
- Assisted his clients in successfully passing a legislative fix for the transition from LIBOR through the United States Senate by unanimous consent.
- Implemented successful passage of Vitter (R-LA)-Pryor (D-AR) Amendment protecting non-financial companies from Dodd-Frank.
- Navigated Senate passage of Vitter (R-LA)-Shaheen (D-NH) legislation that raised cap for expired SBA 7(a) loan program funding, preserving it for small businesses.
- Worked closely with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to pass one of the only bipartisan bills to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie and cap CEOs’ pay.
- Led passage of the Gleason Act, one of the few bipartisan bills of the day to allow patients with diseases to lead more independent lives.
Caroline Rafferty
With 15 years of experience in government affairs and in Congress, Caroline Rafferty manages the 1607 Strategies research team and conducts policy analysis to ensure clients across sectors are advised of and develop strategy around critical energy, commerce, tax, financial regulation, and small business matters. In addition, she helps administer political spending.
Before joining 1607 Strategies, Caroline directed operations at Fierce Government Relations. In that capacity she ran the daily operations of the firm – helping it grow from 37 to over 60 clients while supporting lobbyists in both client services and Hill outreach. She organized and led Capitol Hill fly-in meetings for Fortune 100 and leading trade group clients, leveraging her knowledge of House and Senate offices to tailor messaging and accomplish client goals. Caroline worked with congressional offices, including leadership and committee staff, and kept clients up to date on issues critical to their business success. She worked on co-sponsor efforts tapping into her existing Hill relationships to gain critical momentum and significantly increase the number of members engaged on various client issues. Caroline also managed whip lists and hill outreach progress across numerous clients, using that information to further hone their lobbying efforts.
At Fierce, she took a lead in managing the operations of several coalitions. She helped launch and run a leading business group, Coalition for the American Dream, which now has more than 140 members, including Fortune 100 companies, top technology firms, and leading business trade groups. She organized multiple Capitol Hill fly-ins for the organization and engaged its members in advocacy efforts, sign-on letters, public relations campaigns, and legal briefs including a Supreme Court Amicus Brief that was later sited in Chief Justice Roberts’ opinion in the case. She served as the Secretary/Treasurer for both the Coalition for the American Dream and the American Television Alliance.
Caroline has deep experience with operations and management. Previously, she worked on Capitol Hill in the office of Senator Richard Burr (R-NC) and for the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs where she handled logistics and operations. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government from the University of Virginia.
Hannah Baham
Hannah Baham has extensive experience in government affairs on Capitol Hill and in the healthcare industry. Her expertise spans healthcare and education policy, conservative priorities, as well as navigating the legislative process. At 1607 Strategies, Hannah conducts policy analysis to ensure clients across sectors are advised of and develop strategy around critical healthcare, education, energy, financial, and small business matters.
Previously, she served as the legislative correspondent for Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ), where she focused on healthcare policy, Medicaid and Medicare reform, and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). Hannah also contributed to education policy initiatives. In addition, Hannah built relationships with the House Freedom Caucus, where Representative Biggs previously served as the chairman.
Prior to working with Representative Biggs, she worked in the office of Representative Clay Higgins (R-LA). In this capacity, she assisted legislative staff by writing letters of support, synthesizing bills, and drafting questions for Committee hearings. Her boss served as chairman of the Subcommittee on Federal Law Enforcement of the Homeland Security Committee.
Early in her career, Hannah handled operations and customer service for an independent pharmacy and later for a Division III College Athletic Department. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Classics from the Franciscan University of Steubenville.