When Jamie Whitehead and Anne Davis signed up to work for the presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), they did what an increasing number of Democratic presidential aides are doing these days: They severed their ties with their K Street employers.

Whitehead, a Kerry fundraiser, left the Marwood Group, where she was registered to lobby for clients ranging from Bristol-Meyers Squibb to the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners.

Davis, a campaign aide, had been a registered lobbyist with Morisset, Schlosser, Homer, Jozwiak & McGaw. She represented the Quechan Indian Tribe for the firm.

Whitehead and Davis are in good company.

A Roll Call review of payroll information from the campaigns reveals that more than a dozen former lobbyists now serve in key positions on the Democratic presidential campaigns of Rep. Richard Gephardt (Mo.) and Sens. Joe Lieberman (Conn.), John Edwards (N.C.) and Kerry.

For example, Maurice Daniel, a Gephardt consultant, was a registered lobbyist with Dyer, Ellis & Joseph on a range of clients, such as Union Pacific and the Alaska Railroad, according to information compiled by PoliticalMoneyLine.com.

Like many other campaign aides, Daniel took a leave before joining the campaign.

Meanwhile, several of the candidates’ unpaid advisers continue to work for corporate clients. John Sasso, a senior strategist for Kerry, remains at the firm Advanced Strategies, where he is registered to lobby for John Hancock Life Insurance and State Street Bank, according to disclosure reports.

As has been reported, Gephardt adviser Steve Elmendorf, lobbies for the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. Gephardt’s finance director, Richard Sullivan, however, took a leave of absence from his work for corporate clients with the Washington Group.

And, Nick Baldick, Edwards’ campaign manager, continues to do communications work for corporate clients through two consulting firms where he represented corporate clients, the Dewey Square Group and Sullivan & Baldick.

Filings with the House and Senate indicate that Baldick was registered to work for Northwest Airlines through the middle of last year — but Edwards spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri said the forms were a mistake.

“He has never done federal lobbying,” said Palmieri, herself a onetime registered lobbyist with Americans for Gun Safety.

Venable Exit. Venable, Baetjer, Howard and Civiletti, the high-powered Baltimore law and lobbying firm, has added James J. Hanks Jr., a well-known Maryland lawyer, and a cadre of other attorneys to its roster.

The group of attorneys left Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, where all eight practiced corporate law.

Venable represents a number of blue-chip clients, including Hilton Hotels, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores and UBS Warburg.

Along with Hanks, Sharon Kroupa has signed up with Venable as a partner, while William Agee and Teresa Carnell will serve as of counsel. Patricia McGowan, Michael Leber, Michael Schiffer and Christopher Pate will be associates.

Hanks is an expert in real-estate investment trusts, many of which are incorporated in Maryland, and has represented a significant number of REITs.

John Bresnahan contributed to this report.