Joab M. Lesesne III

Joab (Joey) Lesesne is senior vice president of public policy and government affairs for Cox Enterprises. He is responsible for developing and implementing public policy strategies for all Cox businesses and representing the company before Congress and federal government agencies. Lesesne also leads Cox’s Public Policy office in Washington, D.C.

Lesesne joined Cox as vice president of government affairs in 2007. Prior to joining Cox, he served as a vice president of Timmons and Company, a Washington-based government relations and consulting firm where he assisted clients in formulating and implementing individualized strategies for working with Capitol Hill and the Administration.

He served as chief of staff for Senator Ernest Hollings from 1999 to 2005. In this capacity, he advised the Senator on votes, policy statements, speeches, amendments, legislation and other official business, as well as coordinated the Senator’s projects and policy initiatives. He joined the Senator’s staff in 1993 as legislative counsel and later was promoted to legislative director. Following law school, he was an attorney at Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough in Columbia, S.C.

Lesesne was the 2003 recipient of the Compleat Lawyer Award. Given by the University of South Carolina’s School of Law Alumni Association, the award recognizes alumni for outstanding civic and professional accomplishments. He graduated cum laude with a degree in history from Birmingham-Southern College in Birmingham, Alabama. He earned his juris doctor from The University of South Carolina and is a member of the Bars of South Carolina and District of Columbia.