MORE NEW BUSINESS: The private equity giant Carlyle Group has retained Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck. Tim Keating, who joined Brownstein last year after abruptly leaving his role as Boeing’s top lobbyist, was brought on in July for general government relations services, just before the industry’s showdown with Senate Democrats over their bid to tighten the so-called carried interest loophole. — As PI noted last week, Carlyle Group spends a fraction of what its fellow private equity firms drop on lobbying, but retains around a half-dozen outside lobbying firms: Sternhell Group, The Madison Group, Polaris Government Relations, Miller & Chevalier and Akin Gump. DEVOS FAM PONIES UP TO UNSEAT WHITMER: “The wealthy DeVos family is pouring millions of dollars into its long established political network to help Republican candidate Tudor Dixon overtake Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in what could be one of the most expensive races in the 2022 midterm elections,” CNBC’s Brian Schwartz reports. — “State records show that since the beginning of May, DeVos family members contributed more than $4 million to outside groups that have either supported Dixon or blasted Whitmer. That massive total includes $1 million by DeVos family members toward Michigan Families United, a pro-Dixon super PAC that spent more than $2.5 million on broadcast and cable ads in the primary, according to data from AdImpact.” The Michigan Freedom Fund and Michigan Freedom Network, which both have ties to the former Education secretary’s family, ran Facebook ads attacking Whitmer. — “The infusion of cash backing Dixon’s candidacy by the wealthy DeVos family came after Dick DeVos announced in May that the family was going to support the Republican businesswoman for governor. Dixon was later endorsed by former President Donald Trump after Betsy DeVos sent a handwritten note imploring him to back her family’s preferred candidate. For Dixon, the timing of the DeVos endorsement was critical, as her campaign went into primary day with just over $537,000 on hand, a paltry sum compared with Whitmer’s more than $14 million war chest.” ON THE AIR: A trio of Democratic groups are coming together to help the party sell its landmark climate bill and stave off a midterm shellacking, per POLITICO’s Elena Schneider. Climate Power, the League of Conservation Voters and Future Forward USA Action are “dropping $10 million on a national TV ad campaign to define the legislation in the minds of voters.” — “It’s the largest paid ad effort to bolster the legislation so far, as an array of Democratic groups and candidates kick off a 90-day sprint to promote the package and defy a brutal electoral environment for the party.” — “It’s a task the party has been particularly bad at in the past — most notably in 2010 after the passage of Obamacare — and there’s no guarantee this time will be different. ‘There was no campaign to win the win’ after passage of the Affordable Care Act, said Lori Lodes, executive director of Climate Power, ‘whereas the other side spent $450 million to define it as a socialist takeover.’ That cycle, Democrats lost 63 House seats and six Senate seats.” — “There’s more ad spending on the horizon, both from candidates and outside groups, a half-dozen Democratic strategists said. Building Back Together, a group led by former Biden campaign officials to support the president’s policies, will be rolling out a more than $1 million ad buy, particularly targeting voters of color, according to a spokesperson for the group.” MEANWHILE IN CALIFORNIA: National and state business interests are mobilizing to block California legislation that would create a council overseeing industry workplace standards in fast food restaurants, in what our colleagues in Sacramento say is shaping up to be “one of the marquee battles of the remaining legislative session.” — The advisory council created by the bill would create wage and workplace standards within the fast food industry, and extend liability to corporations like McDonald’s for violations at individual franchise stores. The bill is a major priority for the labor movement, while critics like the International Franchise Association argue it will raise food costs and burden business owners. The bill is “the biggest state issue we have ever dealt with and could have ripple effects across the nation for franchising,” IFA spokesperson Katherine Knight Patterson told PI. ( California House Democrats would seem to agree on the latter point.) — On Wednesday, the trade group organized a fly-in to bring dozens of franchisees to meet with California senators as the FAST Recovery Act heads to the floor. And today, IFA and the California Restaurant Association rolled out a seven-figure TV, radio and digital ad buy calling the bill a “food tax,” California Playbook reported. IF YOU MISSED IT WEDNESDAY: “A once-floundering lawsuit against the National Rifle Association of America that seeks the return of potentially hundreds of millions in donations is back on track after the plaintiffs found new lawyers just before a crucial deadline,” Bloomberg’s Roy Strom reports. — “Chicago-based Loevy & Loevy and Southeast law firm Stites & Harbison are now representing the group of disillusioned donors seeking to certify a class-action against one of the most powerful interest groups in US history.” — “The donors, led by Nashville gun-rights activist David Dell’Aquila, argue the NRA fraudulently solicited donations to protect the Second Amendment but instead used the money to fund its executives’ lavish lifestyles. Their allegations mirror ones leveled in a separate lawsuit by New York Attorney General Letitia James. But their case was derailed and sat dormant for months after the lead lawyer, Knoxville-based Elliott Schuchardt, was suspended from practicing in federal court in Tennessee, as chronicled in a Bloomberg Law story last week.”
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