Hunter Petro

Hunter Petro graduated summa cum laude from Marist University this spring — in three years, with a degree in Global Studies — and walked straight into running the operational and legislative engine of an Albany lobbying firm. The "seven years of government experience" Carlucci Consulting credits him with isn't hype: before Carlucci, he worked in Senator Charles Schumer's Hudson Valley regional office, the New York State Senate, and on congressional and local campaigns across the Hudson Valley, plus a year and a half producing the Marist Poll Hub podcast and guest-lecturing on political communication at the Marist Institute for Public Opinion. As Chief of Staff at the firm founded by former State Senator David Carlucci, he now manages a client portfolio of more than 20 accounts spanning healthcare, labor, energy, and economic development.

This session alone, he drove coalition strategy behind the Opioid Patients' Right to Know Act, managed the American Kratom Association's statewide advocacy through a municipal ban fight, pushed telehealth access for Serenity Center against a resistant state agency, and represented SMACNA-NYS on indoor air quality legislation affecting New York's schools. He built that track record while also running the firm's lobby-day logistics, media strategy, and intern program.

A registered New York State lobbyist and an elected member of the New York State Democratic Committee representing Assembly District 99 — one of the youngest to hold the seat — Hunter has, as one nominator put it, "the relationships, the judgment, and the track record" of someone with decades in Albany, not months. A Rockland County native who has traveled to 50 countries, he's also an Emerging Leader with the New York League of Conservation Voters and a member of ABNY's Young Professionals Associates — international perspective he says makes for better advocacy at home.