Pete Robinson, influential lobbyist and former Georgia lawmaker, dies at 66
ATLANTA – Former Georgia legislator and longtime Gold Dome lobbyist Pete Robinson has died at the age of 66, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reported Thursday.
Robinson died early Thursday at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where he was being treated for bile duct cancer diagnosed in mid-June.
Robinson, a Columbus native, served for a decade in both the Georgia House of Representatives and the state Senate during the 1980s and 1990s, rising to the posts of majority leader and president pro tempore in the Senate.
After leaving elective office, Robinson went on to become among the most influential lobbyists at the state Capitol. He became managing partner at blue-chip Atlanta law firm Troutman Sanders in 2002, then joined Atlanta-based King & Spalding, another top law firm, as a partner in 2019.
Over the years, he has represented a number of corporate giants including Delta Air Lines, Columbus-based AFLAC, General Motors, the Coca-Cola Co. and Georgia Power. His list of active clients includes another major Columbus company, Synovus Financial.
“Pete Robinson was a dedicated public servant and will be greatly missed both here in the halls of the Capitol and throughout Georgia,” said current Senate President Pro Tempore Butch Miller, R-Gainesville. “He was the definition of a servant leader and always knew how to find common ground to make this state come together for the greater good.”
Robinson, who earned his law degree at Mercer University, also chaired then-Gov. Nathan Deal’s Judicial Nominating Commission during the last decade, overseeing the panel’s review of all of the state’s judicial candidates.