Electric air taxi startup hires FAA vet to lead D.C. office

From: POLITICO Influence - Wednesday Aug 24,2022 09:43 pm
Delivered daily, Influence gives you a comprehensive rundown and analysis of all lobby hires and news on K Street.
Aug 24, 2022 View in browser
 
POLITICO Influence newsletter logo

By Caitlin Oprysko

With Daniel Lippman

ELECTRIC AIR TAXI TAPS FAA VET TO LEAD D.C. OFFICE: The electric aircraft startup Archer Aviation has hired Mike Romanowski as its head of government affairs as the company slowly grows its presence in Washington. Romanowski has spent the past 14 years at the FAA and in the Obama Office of Science and Technology Policy, most recently serving as FAA’s aircraft certification director of policy and innovation.

— Prior to that, Romanowski lobbied for the Aerospace Industries Association as a vice president for civil aviation. Archer is pushing to develop and bring to market a four-seat electric air taxi with vertical takeoff and landing capability, and has scored a major investment from United Airlines, which this month put down a $10 million deposit for 200 of the flying taxis.

— But the aircraft has not yet been cleared by federal regulators, and the company is looking to help shape the regulatory framework necessary for such an undertaking. Archer hired Invariant about a year ago to “educate policymakers about eVTOL,” or electric vertical takeoff and landing, and disclosures show Archer has paid the firm $370,000 in lobbying fees since then.

— “Michael’s appointment is key to collaborating on the regulatory framework that will help make [commercialization] possible,” the company’s co-founder and CEO Adam Goldstein said in a statement. A spokesperson declined to say whether Romanowski will be registering to lobby.

Good afternoon and welcome to PI. What’s going on out there? Send tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko. 

 

SUBSCRIBE TO POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don’t miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY.

 
 
 

STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president’s ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.

 
 

HEAD OF CRYPTO GROUP LOSES CONGRESSIONAL PRIMARY: The crypto industry’s checkered record in midterm primaries continued last night, but this time it was one of the industry’s own running for office backed by crypto’s deep pockets. Michelle Bond, who runs the Association for Digital Asset Markets , lost the Republican primary for New York’s 1st Congressional District, coming in second to Suffolk County official Nick LaLota.

— The 20-point loss came in spite of a more than $600,000 fundraising gap between the two, and millions in outside spending boosting Bond and opposing LaLota. One super PAC, Crypto Innovation , reported almost $1.3 million in independent expenditures supporting Bond. The super PAC received $225,000 altogether from SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci and brothers Bart and Bradford Stephens, co-founders of Blockchain Capital. But more than $1.5 million of the PAC’s funding has come from GMI PAC, another super PAC funded by crypto executives, including FTX’s Ryan Salame, Bond’s boyfriend, who has given the group $1.5 million, and Sam Bankman-Fried, who's given GMI PAC $2 million.

— The next biggest spender in Bond’s race was the Stand For New York Committee, a recently formed super PAC that spent $823,000 opposing LaLota and $24,000 supporting Bond. The committee’s only disclosed donor is Salame, who kicked in $500,000, FEC filings show. A third super PAC, called Crypto Freedom PAC, spent $287,000 opposing LaLota. The committee’s top donors are the conservative Club for Growth and GOP megadonor Jeff Yass , who filings show donated $1.9 million in bitcoin.

ANNALS OF DARK MONEY: “Two ‘dark money’ groups, American Economic Freedom Alliance and American Prosperity Alliance, contributed $4 million to Conservative Americans PAC,” OpenSecrets’ Taylor Giorno found in an analysis of the super PAC’s August monthly filings. “ The ‘pop-up’ super PAC spent over $2.4 million in GOP primary races for U.S. House seats in Missouri, Tennessee and Arizona from July 19 to 29,” though the PAC saw mixed results.

— “Because Conservative Americans PAC filed a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on July 11, it was not required to disclose its donors until Saturday. But voters cast their ballots in the five GOP primaries during the first week of August, unaware of who was spending millions to influence the outcome of these races.”

— “‘[D]edicated to electing true conservatives who will fight the radical left, socialists and woke mob,’ according to its bare-bones website, Conservative Americans PAC spent money opposing four candidates. In Missouri, state Sens. Rick Brattin in the 4th District and Mike Moon in the 7th District lost their GOP primaries. State Sen. Eric Burlison in Missouri’s 7th District and Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District won theirs. The only candidate supported by Conservative Americans PAC outside spending, former Navy Seal Eli Crane, won the GOP primary in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District.”

— “A new dark money group, American Prosperity Alliance, contributed $4.8 million of the more than $5.7 million reported through July. Conservative Americans PAC refunded $1.6 million to American Prosperity Alliance one day after the dark money group’s last $1.6 million contribution in July, bringing that total down to $3.2 million.”

IF YOU MISSED IT TUESDAY: “Republican Rep. Liz Cheney has amassed a group of political consultants with ties to former President Donald Trump and the expansive Koch network as she mulls a run for the White House after losing in the GOP primary for her Wyoming House seat,” CNBC’s Brian Schwartz reported.

— “Cheney is using some of Trump’s own consultants and allies, including those from the powerful Koch network, to try to keep the former president from winning a second term in the White House. Some of them appear to have used limited liability companies that shroud their identity from the public.”

— “‘These people are going to be persona non grata after the Cheney loss,’ a senior GOP strategist close to Trump said when asked if the president and his associates will work with the former Cheney advisors again.” Among the vendors used by Cheney backers is Charles Koch’s i360, “a data and technology company owned by his conglomerate, Koch Industries, according to financial database PitchBook and Federal Election Commission filings.”

— “The filing shows two PACs, Conservatives for a Strong America and Wyomingites Defending Freedom and Democracy, paid i360 to help deploy pro-Cheney ads through text messages. Axios reported that the leader of Wyomingites Defending Freedom and Democracy is former Trump White House aide Julia Griswold Dailer , who didn’t return a request for comment.” A Koch Industries spokesperson “told CNBC in an email after publication of this story that i360 has over a thousand clients and that anyone using their product doesn’t connotate an endorsement or support.”

— “FEC filings show that one of the Cheney campaign’s top vendors in the 2022 election cycle was a company called Red Right Media . That company was paid more than $1 million for advertising and media services by Cheney’s campaign during her 2022 primary run, including more than $300,000 in July, according to FEC disclosures.”

— “Though it doesn’t appear to have a public website, Virginia business records say that Red Right Media is an alternative name for a company called X/Roads Communications. According to state business records, X/Roads Communications is run by Mike Dubke , a veteran Republican strategist who once worked in Trump’s White House as communications director.”

Jobs Report

Jon Banner is joining McDonald's as executive vice president and global chief impact officer, overseeing the brand’s sustainability and ESG, government relations and public policy, communications and international corporate relations operations, as well as Ronald McDonald House Charities . He previously was executive vice president for communications at PepsiCo and president of the PepsiCo Foundation.

Dianna Steinbach is now chief strategy officer for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors. She previously was vice president of international services for the International Sanitary Supply Association.

Mark Rubin is joining Verrill’s Washington, D.C., office as a counsel in the telecommunications group. He most recently led government affairs at TracFone Wireless and is a Tim Johnson and FCC alum.

Jamie Kunchick is now a public affairs specialist for nuclear, security and environmental at Bechtel. She most recently was senior digital media strategist at the American Petroleum Institute.

Peter Frumhoff has joined the Woodwell Climate Research Center as a senior science policy adviser. He previously was the chief climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Dentons Global Advisors-Albright Stonebridge Group is adding a pair of senior advisers: Tami Overby , who previously was senior vice president for Asia and president of the U.S.-Korea Business Council at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Ho Heng Chuan, who previously was vice chair at Citigroup Malaysia.

Tess McEnery will be executive director of the Project on Middle East Democracy. She previously was at the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, and is an NSC alum.

Jess Szymanski is now senior adviser for strategic and crisis comms at Clout Public Affairs. She most recently was comms director for Dave McCormick ’s Pennsylvania Senate campaign, and is a Trump DOE and API alum.

Zach Kennedy is now a project director at Firehouse Strategies. He most recently was deputy campaign manager for Steve Irwin's Pennsylvania congressional campaign. The firm also promoted Emily Brown and Ellie Bowen from associates to project directors.

New Joint Fundraisers

Marshall Lieu Victory Fund (Rep. Ted Lieu, Derek Marshall for Congress)
NRCC Michigan Victory (John Gibbs for Congress, Inc., Tom Barrett for Congress, Paul Junge for Congress, John James for Congress, Inc., Michigan Republican Party, NRCC)

New PACs

Communities United (Super PAC)
Concho Valley Reproductive Rights (Super PAC)
MyDesantis (PAC)
Power On PAC (Hybrid PAC)
SECURING THE REPUBLIC FOR OUR NEXT GENERATION (Leadership PAC: Dale Strong)

New Lobbying Registrations

Haggerty Policy Solutions: California Life Sciences
Oculus Strategies, LLC: Acorn Growth Companies, Lp
Primacy Strategy Group: Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation
The Smith-Free Group, LLC: Natural Ocean Well Co.

New Lobbying Terminations

None.

 

Follow us

Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Instagram Listen on Apple Podcast
 

To change your alert settings, please log in at https://www.politico.com/_login?base=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com/settings

This email was sent to by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA

Please click here and follow the steps to .

More emails from POLITICO Influence

Aug 23,2022 09:40 pm - Tuesday

Ferrier heads to IRI

Aug 18,2022 09:40 pm - Thursday

Critical mineral miner hires Vela

Aug 15,2022 10:04 pm - Monday

More formula providers lobby up