Chris Bragg reports in Capitol Confidential that Maggie Moran, a managing partner at the lobbying firm Kivvit is running the re-election campaign of Gov. Andrew Cuomo. "A look at Kivvit’s current and recent lobbying clients, disclosed on the website of the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics, shows a number with business before the Cuomo administration, including a gas pipeline operation, Williams Companies, which is seeking state approval for a contentious project," Bragg writes in the Albany Times Union blog. Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for governor, criticized the lobbyist leading Cuomo's campaign Aug. 21. "Maggie_Kivvit has received more than $40,000 in contracts as a lobbyists for dirty fossil fuel comp Williams Energy. @NYGovCuomo has just hired her as his campaign director. Climate leader??," Hawkins tweeted. Moran is on leave from Kivvit while working on Cuomo’s campaign but Kivvit still has close ties as Cuomo’s first communications director, Rich Bamberger, is a managing director. He says the company is careful to avoid conflicts. “In New York, the law has changed forcing communications firms to register as lobbyists if they create work such as digital or newspaper ads even if there is no interaction with lawmakers or state agencies which is the situation that Kivvit finds itself in,” Bamberger said. “Kivvit holds itself to the highest standard and it’s our hope to raise the bar on transparency and disclosure.” Read the full story in Capitol Confidential.