Farrell Quinlan

Farrell Quinlan is a prominent Arizona political operative and public relations expert who has been a lobbyist and spokesman for the Grand Canyon State’s top business organizations for almost two decades. He currently serves as the Arizona State Director for the National Federation of Independent Business, the state’s leading small business advocacy organization with over 7,500 members statewide. He joined NFIB in September 2009 after selling his award-winning government affairs and public relations firm, In the Arena Public Affairs.

According to his biography on the NFIB website[1]: ““For 10 years, Quinlan led public policy campaigns for the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in addition to serving as its spokesman and vice president. In 2007, he launched his own firm, In the Arena Public Affairs, and quickly landed such influential clients as the Arizona Contractors Association, Arizona Employers for Immigration Reform, Arizona Landscape Contractors Association, Arizona Mortgage Lenders Association, Drugs Don’t Work in Arizona! and the West Valley Chambers of Commerce Alliance.”

In the Arena Public Affairs was recognized as among the top 20 lobbying firms in Arizona by the Phoenix Business Journal. The firm also won the 2009 Bronze ADDY® Award from American Advertising Federation’s Phoenix chapter for creating the Arizona State Quarter Commemorative Portfolio for the launch of the Arizona edition of the United States Mint’s popular 50 State Quarters® Program.

A Vermont native, Quinlan received a BA in political communication from The George Washington University. "He worked in the congressional offices of Senator Robert Packwood (R-Oregon) and Congressman John Miller (R-Washington) before joining the Republican National Committee in 1991 as a political analyst. After the 1992 election season, he was a national field director with U.S.ENGLISH until he moved to Arizona" in 1994, a biographical note states.

From 1994-1997, Quinlan worked as a journalist for Phoenix Newspapers, then-owners of the Arizona Republic, covering the Arizona Legislature for a weekly faxed-delivered newsletter to business.

The NFIB website also states: “His community involvement includes serving on the City of Chandler Economic Development Advisory Board and on the leadership council of The Wellness Community-Arizona, which provides a full range of support programs for people with cancer. He also served on the Arizona State Quarter Commission, which was responsible for the design and public launch of the U.S. Mint’s Arizona commemorative quarter-dollar coin.”

A 2004 biographical note states that he was "a member of the Board of Directors of Drugs Don't Work in Arizona!, serves on the Advisory Board for the Arizona School Choice Trust and serves on the United States Chamber of Commerce Labor Relations Committee."

Quinlan has been very active in Arizona political campaigns. Most recently, Quinaln was a vocal critic of Proposition 100, the sales tax increase ballot question that Arizona voters passed on May 18, 2010.[2] His work on ballot measure campaigns include 1994's Proposition 300 campaign dealing with private property rights, 2000's Proposition 202 campaign dealing with development boundaries, 2004's Proposition 200 campaign dealing with illegal immigration, 2004's Proposition 101 campaign dealing with voter mandated spending and 2004's Proposition 104 campaign dealing with initiative filing dates; and, 2006’s Proposition 207 dealing with eminent domain.

Quinlan has also been active in Republican Party politics serving as the chairman of the Legislative District 20 Arizona Republican Party from 2008 to 2009. He has also run independent expenditure campaigns and polical action committees, including Arizona Chamber PAC, ALCA PAC, Judgment Matters, VotePAC and BizPAC.

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