TheGROUP fundraises for Hassan, Beatty

From: POLITICO Influence - Friday Sep 09,2022 08:59 pm
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By Caitlin Oprysko

Presented by

the National Confectioners Association

With Daniel Lippman

theGROUP FUNDRAISES FOR HASSAN, BEATTY: One of Senate Democrats’ most vulnerable members is getting some financial backup from one of K Street’s fastest-growing, Democrat-heavy firms. Half a dozen of the top lobbyists at theGROUP D.C., whose clients include UnitedHealth Group, Lyft, BP, Pfizer, Altria, Pepsi and FedEx are set to raise money for Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) on Sept. 22, according to an invitation for the event obtained by PI.

— Hassan will find out next week whether she’ll face the more moderate Chuck Norse or the Trump-aligned Don Bolduc in November, and though POLITICO has predicted that the race leans Democratic, the Mitch McConnell -aligned super PAC Senate Leadership Fund last week announced plans to reserve $23 million in TV ad time in the state for the general election — signaling the GOP continues to view the seat as a pick-up opportunity.

— The breakfast fundraiser will cost $500 for individuals or $1,000 for PACs to get in, or donors can give $2,500 to be named a co-host or $5,000 to be named a host. The event will be hosted by theGROUP’s Art Collins, Sudafi Henry, Darrel Thompson, Jorge Aguilar, Kwabena Nsiah and Eriade Williams. The same group is hosting a breakfast fundraiser for Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), who chairs the powerful Congressional Black Caucus, earlier in the week, according to an invitation obtained by PI.

Happy Friday and welcome to PI. Thanks to Hailey Fuchs for pinch hitting yesterday as your host fights off a second round of Covid. Send lobbying tips and your favorite new streaming releases: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko. 

A message from the National Confectioners Association:

America’s chocolate and candy companies are providing more choice and portion guidance options for consumers seeking to manage their sugar intake – whether that’s buying candy for family celebrations, picking up a treat to share with friends or enjoying a treat on the way out of the store. From beloved classics to new offerings like low/zero sugar and organic, the confectionery industry is meeting consumers where they want to be met. Learn more at AlwaysATreat.com.

 

AMFREE CHAMBER STAFFS UP: The upstart small business advocacy group American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce is continuing its expansion with the addition of a pair of GOP K Street veterans and a former Republican Hill staffer as advisers.

Miller Strategies’ Jeff Miller, a GOP strategist, fundraiser and close ally of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy ; CGCN Group President and CEO Michael Catanzaro, a Trump administration alum; and Alex Vargo, a former aide to Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), are coming aboard as the group’s chief public affairs adviser, chief energy and environment adviser and vice president for policy, respectively.

— The additions are part of an increased focus by the AmFree Chamber on ESG issues that the Biden administration and a growing coalition on Wall Street have embraced. The emphasis on ESG issues has prompted backlash from conservatives across the country, and Republicans in Washington have threatened retribution for the push should they retake control of one or more chambers of Congress next year.

— “Americans across the country are seeing their bottom lines impacted by radical ideas that put activist groups first and shareholders and taxpayers last,” Terry Branstad, the group’s leader and the former governor of Iowa, said in a statement, adding that his group “seeks to become the leading trade association for the business community on energy and ESG issues and we are building the team that can secure a better America.”

CLUB FOR GROWTH LOOKS BEYOND TRUMP: After the Club for Growth’s on-again off-again relationship with former President Donald Trump’s most recent blowup over the Ohio GOP Senate primary, POLITICO’s Alex Isenstadt reports the anti-tax group is “ now taking steps to bolster his potential rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.”

— “The deep-pocketed conservative group is holding events with would-be 2024 contenders and funneling millions of dollars to political outfits aligned with other candidates. The Club for Growth has also conducted polling looking at how Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — widely seen as the party’s leading non-Trump contender — would stack up against the former president in a Republican primary.”

— “Those involved with the organization say they expect Trump will be the GOP nominee in 2024. But its flirtation with other possible Republican candidates represents an escalation of its tensions with Trump, and it shows how the Club for Growth — one of the biggest-spending outfits of the 2022 midterm elections —is working to elevate other voices.

— “‘The Republican bullpen of leadership is strong, and Club for Growth is engaging these conservative champions with grassroots activists on the issues that matter, especially school choice,’ David McIntosh, the group’s president, said in a statement.”

FEC SHOOTS DOWN COMPLAINT OVER ‘ZUCKERBUCKS’: “A unanimous bipartisan vote this summer by the Federal Election Commission has undercut fantastical claims about Mark Zuckerberg’s role in the 2020 election that have taken hold among GOP leaders, candidates and activists decrying ‘Zuckerbucks,’” The Washington Post’s Isaac Stanley-Becker reports.

— The $400 million in grants from the Meta founder and his wife Priscilla Chan, “dispatched to blue and red areas of the country alike, were used to buy masks and plexiglass dividers, among other tools designed to keep voters and elections officials safe” amid the pandemic. “The funding from Zuckerberg, however, soon became kindling for the firestorm unleashed by former president Donald Trump and his allies as they questioned the legitimacy of the Nov. 3, 2020, vote.”

— “The contributions gave rise to numerous complaints before the FEC,” including “that Zuckerberg and Chan had made excess contributions in violation of federal campaign finance law and that one of the nonprofits they funded had failed to register as a political committee.”

— The regulator rejected those claims in a series of 6-0 votes — a show of unity by the commissioners, who are split evenly by party. The votes took place in July, and attorneys for Zuckerberg and Chan were notified of the decisions in an Aug. 8 letter that was made public Thursday. An analysis by the FEC found that the ‘nexus between the donations and any purpose to influence the 2020 election is speculative at best.’ The grants, the regulator noted, ‘were widely awarded across jurisdictions.’”

FLYING IN: Congress is back in town and so are the fly-ins. On Monday, the Truckload Carriers Association will kick off its advocacy push with remarks from Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) before meetings with more than 55 members of Congress, including 24 members of the House and Senate Transportation committees like Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rep. Marilyn Strickland (D-Wash).

— The trade group, which represents hundreds of thousands of truck operators, will push for support for the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act, which was recently approved by House T&I.

IN MEMORIAM: Loren Hoekstra , director of government relations for the National Sheriffs’ Association and a former Hill staffer, died Aug. 18 at 36. A memorial service in her honor will be held Wednesday evening at the Capitol Hill Club.

SPOTTED at a party Wednesday night at Sazerac House celebrating Kountoupes Denham Carr & Reid’s newest lobbyist Mary Dee Beal, per a tipster: KDCR’s Julie Hershey Carr, House Ag’s Caleb Crosswhite, Senate Approps’ Laura Friedel, Emily Slack and Anna Lanier Fischer, the Retail Industry Leaders Association’s Sarah Gilmore and Hana Greenberg, Via’s Andrei Greenawalt and Aparna Paladugu, Senate Ag’s Dudley Hoskins, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores’ Whitney Jones and the House Education & Labor Committee’s Mary Christina Riley.

 

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Jobs Report

Justin Underwood is now director of government affairs at the Institute of International Bankers. He most recently was vice president for banking policy at the American Bankers Association and executive director of the ABA Securities Association.

Grace Liljenwall is now special assistant to the White House counsel. She most recently was a government affairs intern at the National Multifamily Housing Council and is a former intern for Texas Democratic Reps. Joaquin Castro and Filemon Vela and was on the legal policy volunteer staff for the Biden transition.

— The American Library Association has added Marjory Blumenthal and Christopher Harris as senior policy fellows in ALA’s Office of Public Policy and Advocacy. Blumenthal is currently a principal at MSBlumenthal and was previously executive director of the president’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in the Obama administration and Harris is currently director of the School Library System for the Genesee Valley Board of Cooperative Educational Services in Western New York.

Emily Barson is launching Bullhorn Strategies, a consulting firm focused on policy, politics and outreach. She previously spent eight years at HHS in the Obama administration.

Annie Woerpel is joining PhRMA as director of federal advocacy. He was most recently a legislative assistant for Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) and is a Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) alum.

Kalyn Stephens is now director of federal government affairs at Cisco and Waldo McMillan is now vice president of government affairs. McMillan previously was head of Cisco’s D.C. office.

Lauren Mendoza is now deputy assistant secretary for state and local outreach at the Department of Education. She most recently was policy manager at First Five Years Fund.

Ben Cushman has been promoted to head of global regulatory policy for MetLife. He was previously vice president on MetLife’s international government relations team, leading U.S.-based advocacy for MetLife’s business in Asia. Prior to that, he served in a variety of roles over more than a decade at the Treasury Department.

Travis Horr has joined Better Markets as director of external affairs. He served most recently as senior director of government affairs at Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.

Kathryn Linsky has joined McDermott Will & Emery as a partner in its global privacy & cybersecurity practice group. Linsky previously worked in an in-house senior privacy counsel role at Apple.

Paige Mihalik will be director of advocacy at the Children’s Hospital Association. She previously was director of political and digital affairs at the Federation of American Hospitals.

Brian Santo will be chief legal officer and chief compliance officer at Viimed. He previously was associate general counsel and compliance manager at the National Committee for Quality Assurance.

 

A message from the National Confectioners Association:

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New Joint Fundraisers

The Mills Victory Fund (Cory Mills for Congress, Restore America's Voice PAC)

Molinaro Victory Committee (Marc For US Inc., Red Hook PAC, NRCC)

New PACs

BLUE PA PAC (Super PAC)

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Holdings (US) LLC DBA Haleon Political Action Committee (Haleon PAC) (PAC)

Let's Win for America Action (Hybrid PAC)

Students For Democracy (PAC)

 

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New Lobbying Registrations

Analog Devices, Inc.: Analog Devices, Inc.

Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz /The Daschle Group: Wellsky

Dla Piper LLP (US): Intra-Cellular Therapies, Inc.

O'Brien, Gentry & Scott, LLC: Elta N.A.

Polsinelli Pc: Pritikin Icr

Technology Strategies LLC: Gravitics

New Lobbying Terminations

Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth Brenholt: Stronger American Through Seafood

Revere Federal Strategies: Accion Systems

The Mcswane Group: The United States Space Force Association

Transparency International E. V.: Transparency International E. V.

A message from the National Confectioners Association:

In 2017, America’s leading chocolate and candy companies joined forces in a landmark agreement to help consumers manage their sugar intake. In a commitment to Partnership for a Healthier America, these companies set an ambitious goal to provide more transparency, create more portion guidance options in innovative packaging and educate consumers about how unique products like chocolate and candy can be an occasional treat in a balanced lifestyle. The companies exceeded their commitment, empowering consumers to make informed choices and driving directional alignment within the broader confectionery industry. In fact, 85% of chocolate and candy sold today comes in packaging that contains 200 calories or less per pack – whether that’s individually wrapped products or multipacks that contain smaller packages inside. Learn more at AlwaysATreat.com.

 
 

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