Sam Lauter is a public affairs professional with over 40 years of experience in local, state and national politics. Sam, a fifth-generation San Francisco native, utilizes his years of experience to manage Barnes Mosher Whitehurst Lauter & Partners’ (BMWL) public affairs and lobbying business.
Sam began his professional career at the age of 18 on the district staff for Congressman Philip Burton (D-CA). Following Congressman Burton’s passing, Sam continued to work for his successor, Congresswoman Sala Burton (D-CA) for three years while at UC Berkeley. After graduating college in 1986, Sam moved to Washington, DC, to work on the presidential campaign and Senate staff for Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE), where he served as the Senator’s personal assistant. He moved back to San Francisco to work for California Lt. Governor Leo McCarthy, where his responsibilities included field strategy, advance work, fundraising and speechwriting.
Sam co-founded BMWL in 2000. Over its 25 years BMWL has been one of California’s leading boutique public affairs and campaign consulting firms.
As a volunteer, Mr. Lauter is a key voice and fundraiser for the organized Jewish community in both California and Washington, D.C., most prominently with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, where he was appointed to the Council by President Biden in early 2022, the Democratic Majority for Israel, where he is a founding member, Board of Directors, and Bay Area Jewish Action as the Chair of the Advisory Committee. Among Sam’s other affiliations: former California State Chair of the Jewish Public Affairs Committee; and served on the boards of A Wider Bridge, the Bay Area Jewish Community Relations Council, the Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning, the Jewish Bulletin (now the J Weekly), Brandeis Hillel Day School (now The Brandeis School of San Francisco), and the Diller Teen Advisory Committee, among others.
In 2008 Sam spearheaded the first trip by a San Francisco Mayor, Gavin Newsom, to visit Israel, as part of the Haifa-San Francisco Sister City relationship, co-chaired and organized the visit for Mayor Ed Lee in 2016 and chaired and organized the visit for Mayor London Breed in 2023 to celebrate the sister city 50th anniversary. Sam also volunteered for 28 years as the primary organizer of pro-Israel political giving in the San Francisco Bay Area. In that role he created a donor-friendly system that has been utilized and adapted by the pro-Israel community throughout the United States.
Sam’s volunteer work in the pro-Israel community has been recognized with the Israel in Our Hearts award given by the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco and as the Champion Ally by A Wider Bridge.