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Tobacco Industry Maintains Extensive Lobbying Network Across All 50 States, New ASH Data Reveal
Six years of tracking show persistent tobacco industry presence in state capitals, with 339 lobbyists and firms appearing every year since 2021

WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 6, 2026 – The tobacco industry continues to maintain a broad and persistent lobbying presence in state politics, with 1,199 tobacco industry lobbyist and lobbying firm registrations tracked across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. in 2026, according to new data released today by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH).

Now in its sixth year, the ASH Tobacco Industry Lobbyist and Lobbying Firm Registration Tracker provides the most comprehensive publicly available picture of who represents tobacco interests in state capitals, where they lobby, which companies they represent, and how the industry’s lobbying network is changing over time.

“This six-year dataset demonstrates the tobacco industry’s enduring infrastructure of deadly political influence,” said Laurent Huber, Executive Director of Action on Smoking and Health. “The names may change, but the tobacco industry’s presence in state policymaking remains remarkably persistent and detrimental to public health. The transparency provided by the ASH Tracker is crucial to our field.”

Explore the 2026 ASH Tobacco Lobbyist Tracker>

Explore the Visual Dataset from the 2021-2026 ASH Tracker>

The World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control’s Article 5.3 recognizes the fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the tobacco industry’s interests and public health policy and calls on governments to protect tobacco control policies from tobacco industry interests.

When lobbyists work on behalf of companies whose products kill when used exactly as intended, every community suffers. There is no safe use of cigarettes; they kill roughly two-thirds of long-time users and sicken millions more every year.

Key Findings:

– 1,199 tobacco industry lobbyist and lobbying firm registrations were identified across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. in 2026.

– 339 lobbyists and firms appear in every year of ASH’s six-year data set, from 2021 through 2026, revealing a persistent core of tobacco industry lobbyists.

– Philip Morris International’s state lobbying registrations have increased 402% since 2021, the largest increase among major tobacco companies tracked by ASH.

– The U.S. states with the most tobacco registrations in 2026 were: Pennsylvania (88), Florida (85), New Jersey (49), Illinois (44), and Ohio (43).

– The tracker now covers six consecutive years of registration data, making it possible to identify long-term trends rather than relying on a single year’s snapshot.

– ASH’s tracker includes registrations associated with Altria, Philip Morris International, Reynolds American, JUUL, ITG Brands, the Cigar Association of America, Swisher, General Cigar, the Vapor Technology Association and others.

– The data show that lobbying disclosures are not uniform across states. In some jurisdictions, lobbying firms or employers can register instead of individual lobbyists, making it difficult for the public to determine exactly how many people are working to influence policy.

– ASH has also begun tracking disclosed tobacco lobbying expenditures in states where sufficiently accessible data are available, including Minnesota, Washington, California, Alaska and Florida. These figures are not a national spending total.

The ASH Tracker makes state lobbying records easier for journalists, researchers, advocates and the public to understand. State disclosure systems vary considerably, and a single lobbyist or firm may appear in multiple registrations.

“What’s striking in this year’s data is how concentrated tobacco’s lobbying power has become,” said ASH Public Health and Policy Fellow David An, lead researcher of the 2026 ASH Tobacco Industry Lobbyist and Lobbying Firm Registration Tracker and School for Moral Ambition Fellow. “Altria, Philip Morris International, and Reynolds American now account for roughly 61% of all tracked registrations. At the same time, more than 800 lobbyists and firms appearing in this year’s data were also registered in 2025. Together, these numbers show an industry that is not only deeply embedded in state policymaking but has built a remarkably persistent lobbying infrastructure to protect its deadly interests year after year.”

ACTION ON SMOKING AND HEALTH
Founded in 1967, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) is America’s oldest anti-tobacco organization, dedicated to a world with ZERO tobacco deaths. Because tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide, ASH supports bold solutions proportionate to the magnitude of the problem. https://ash.org