Where K Street’s money is going in the GOP primary

From: POLITICO Influence - Monday Jul 17,2023 10:57 pm

Jul 17, 2023

Presented by

With help from Daniel Lippman

WHO’S WINNING THE K STREET PRIMARY: K Street money is flooding into the GOP presidential primary ahead of the first debate next month, according to a PI analysis of last quarter’s campaign finance records. Dozens of lobbyists and other K Street types have already maxed out to at least one candidate as of the filing deadline. Others opened their wallets for multiple candidates last quarter.

— Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was one of the biggest magnets for K Street cash last quarter. Among those who maxed out to his campaign are Brian Bartlett of Kekst, Charlie Spies, Ignacio Sanchez of DLA Piper, Bill Burck of Quinn Emanuel, Brian Huseman of Amazon, Marc Lampkin and Leah Dempsey of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and Ballard Partners’ Adrian Lukis, Dane Eagle and Courtney Coppola. Lamar Smith, DeSantis’ former House colleague who now lobbies for Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, also maxed out to the governor.

— DeSantis also received four-figure checks from Peloton lobbyist Justin Kintz, Sidley Austin’s Joseph Coniglio, Business Roundtable President Kristen Silverberg and BRT lobbyist Matthew Miller, Federal Hall Policy Advisors’ Cliff Roberti, Uber’s Brian Barnard, Robinhood’s Lucas Moskowitz, Targeted Victory’s Alberto Martinez, Navigators Global’s Susan Nelson, WilmerHale’s Sean Hayes, and General Dynamics’ Erica Striebel, among others.

— South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, who’s long been a prolific fundraiser (it also doesn’t hurt being the top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee) raked in droves of cash from downtown as well. Former aides Saat Alety of Fed Hall and Travis Norton of Brownstein were among his major downtown donors last quarter, a group that also includes Williams & Jensen’s Susan Hirschmann, Harbinger Strategies’ John O’Neill, Porterfield, Fettig & Sears’ Lendell Porterfield, Brownstein’s Norm Brownstein, Akin Gump’s Brendan Dunn, Capitol Counsel’s Warren Tryon and Michael Ahern of the Sternhell Group.

— Former Vice President Mike Pence and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley also drew some attention from lobbyists. Nokia lobbyist Grace Koh, Navigators Global founder Cesar Conda, West Front Strategies’ Ashley Davis, Cormac Group’s James Link, General Mills’ Erika Baum and Cactus Group’s Sue Andres were among Haley’s K Street donors. Miller Strategies’ Jonathan Hiler, Cornerstone Government Affairs’ Chris Hodgson and Intel’s Stephen Pinkos each pitched in $3,300 to Pence’s campaign while Ogilvy’s Chris Giblin and Blackstone’s Kristan Nevins contributed $1,000.

— Somewhat unsurprisingly, the longshot candidates without a long history in Washington took in significantly less cash from K Street last quarter. Ryan Dattilo, a former Hill aide now at the Aquia Group, wrote a $1,000 check to entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, one of the only registered lobbyists to do so, by PI’s count.

— Former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who is largely self-funding his campaign, cashed a $1,000 check from Michelle Korsmo, the president and chief executive of the National Restaurant Association. Meanwhile Miller Strategies founder Jeff Miller gave $3,300 to Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’s longshot campaign.

— Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was among the exceptions, pulling in donations from Chartwell Strategy Group’s David Tamasi, John Spinello of Astellas Pharma, Barbara Comstock of Baker Donelson, Michael Duhaime of MAD Global and more. Richard Constable, the global head of government affairs and social impact for Madison Square Garden Entertainment, also kicked the former governor a check last quarter.

— Despite only being in the race for a few weeks of the Q2 fundraising period, former Rep. Will Hurd cashed several checks from folks downtown, including Aquia Group’s Stoney Burke, Monument Advocacy’s Andy Howell, Anduril’s Matt Haskins, Amazon’s Shannon Kellogg and Consumer Technology Association President Gary Shapiro.

— Some downtowners appeared to be hedging their bets, giving to multiple candidates last quarter. BGR Group’s Haley Barbour maxed out to Christie and gave another $5,000 to Pence, while Jeff Miller donated to Scott, Suarez and Trump. Lampkin donated to Scott in addition to DeSantis, and Ken Mehlman of KKR gave to both Scott and Christie.

Happy Monday and welcome to PI. Tips: coprysko@politico.com. And be sure to follow me on Twitter: @caitlinoprysko.

A message from Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l:

Lowering the bar on air safety could be a catastrophic mistake. America has the safest skies in the world because we have the toughest safety standards in the world. Yet, Congress is considering eroding those standards by weakening strong pilot training rules and introducing even more risk by raising the mandatory pilot retirement age. Learn more here.

DON’T CUT OUT THE MIDDLEMEN: As major policy fights increasingly shift over to state capitals, amid gridlock and paralysis in Washington, lobbyists from the Vogel Group and Holtzman Vogel founder Jill Holtzman Vogel have teamed up to launch a new firm aiming to make it easier for clients with a federal lobbying presence to find a foothold at the state level as well.

— The firm, dubbed 50 to 1, will work with companies, trade associations, nonprofits and other advocacy groups, connecting them with a bipartisan network of experts and advocates in every state and territory. The firm will manage those services “to allow our clients to maximize efficiencies and focus on their core mission,” said Holtzman Vogel, a retiring Virginia state senator and longtime fixture in the Republican world of political law.

— Holtzman Vogel, who will serve as 50 to 1’s managing principal, is joined by Brad Howard, a Democratic principal at the Vogel Group. He’ll hold the same title at 50 to 1 and maintain his current role with the Vogel Group. Skip Joslin, previously a partner at HVJT Consulting, will become a principal at 50 to 1.

RAIMONDO AIDE LAUNCHES CHIPS PRACTICE: A former aide to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo who helped shape last year’s CHIPS and Science Act will now put that intimate experience with the bill to use in the private sector. Bernadette Carrillo left Commerce earlier this year after serving as the department’s director of intergovernmental affairs to join the consulting firm Tusk Strategies.

— Now, the consultancy is set to launch a new practice group focused solely on the CHIPS bill, led by Carrillo and the head of Tusk’s D.C. office, Cristóbal Alex. The practice group will work with companies to “really think through and shape and frame” their applications for a chunk of the tens of billions in funding to shore up the domestic semiconductor industry, Carrillo said in an interview.

— While ethics rules bar Carrillo from reaching out to the executive branch for another two years, she told PI that she’ll be able to provide clients with strategic counsel based on her work at Commerce engaging governors to push the legislation on the Hill.

— “Having that unique understanding of the shaping is critical,” she said, arguing that clients will benefit from her understanding various regional economies as well as how best to engage states and becoming intimate with the landscape of state and local incentive programs — “which are going to be the most critical component to your application.”

— “How you’re thinking about how you’re going to apply is probably the most critical component to all of this,” she told PI. “That’s where I see the most challenge, and I think that being able to fill that gap is where I can be most impactful.” In addition to advising companies across “all facets of the semiconductor ecosystem,” the practice group will work with states to help them attract capital under the bill and to develop partnerships with colleges and universities to build out the chip workforce pipeline.

SPEAKING OF CHIPS: The heads of top semiconductor manufacturers including Intel and Qualcomm are set to be in Washington this week to meet with administration officials to raise concerns about potential new export controls related to China, Reuters’ Stephen Nellis, Andrea Shalal and Karen Freifeld report.

— “U.S. officials are considering tightening export rules affecting high-performance computing chips and shipments to Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, sources told Reuters in June. The rules would respectively affect Intel, which is preparing a new artificial intelligence chip that could be shipped to China, and Qualcomm, which has a license to sell chips to Huawei.”

— The meetings “come as Nvidia Corp and other chip companies fear a permanent loss of sales for an industry with large amounts of business in China while tensions escalate between Washington and Beijing,” and will take place against the backdrop of last year’s chips bill, for which chipmakers were among the loudest cheerleaders.

— Per Reuters, “one of the sources familiar with the matter said the executives’ goals for the meetings would be to ensure that government officials understand the possible impact of any further tightening of rules around what chips can be sold to China.”

PORTER’S MISSING RESUME ITEM: “California Rep. Katie Porter has won acclaim in Washington as an unrelenting antagonist of big banks. But in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, a major industry player turned to her for advice,” according to a since-hidden version of her resume, per POLITICO’s Chris Cadelago.

— “Porter was hired in 2015 as a consultant for Ocwen Financial Corporation, a large mortgage loan servicing provider that faced multibillion-dollar fines and penalties for deceiving homeowners. Her stint in the corporate world came shortly after she oversaw the national mortgage settlement as the state’s independent monitor and before she made her first run for Congress.”

— “The full scope of Porter’s work for Ocwen as it was under legal siege remains unclear, but an aide said in a written statement that she was hired to advise the company in its communication with customers and did not lobby or interact directly with regulators. Nathan Click, a senior adviser to Porter, said she was enlisted to focus on the kind of work she did as California’s monitor during the mortgage settlement, such as ‘translating the banks’ mumbo jumbo about eligibility into a clear consumer-facing tool.’”

— “But for Porter, a leading U.S. Senate candidate whose career was shaped and accelerated by the financial meltdown in the 2000s, her pass through the revolving door threatens to dilute her public image as an unsparing progressive who has erected walls between herself and the corporate interests she believes are infecting nearly every aspect of the American political system.”

A message from Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l:

Jobs Report

— Matt Cook has been named the new CEO of the Children’s Hospital Association. Cook is the president of UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals and senior vice president of Children’s Services at UCSF Health.

— Julia Krieger is now the U.S. policy comms lead at Coinbase. She most recently was senior spokesperson at Treasury working on domestic and international tax policy, climate finance and cyber and digital asset security and is a Biden White House and campaign alum.

— Former Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry is joining Ballard Partners as a partner in its Washington, Tallahassee and Jacksonville offices.

— Former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen has joined Cravath, Swaine & Moore as of counsel in the litigation department.

— Jacqueline Borsboom is joining The Asia Group as managing director for Australia defense and aerospace. She was previously minister counselor for defense policy at the Australian Embassy to the U.S., and will help lead their Australia practice focused mainly on AUKUS.

— Austin Weatherford has been named the new executive director of America250, the nonpartisan entity planning the country’s semiquincentennial. He most recently was chief of staff to former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.).

— Lee Bonner is now a government affairs specialist at national law firm Maynard Nexsen, where she will also assist the firm’s PR subsidiary NP Strategy. She most recently was deputy director of scheduling for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

— Cody Sargent is now assistant director of media and public relations at the Heritage Foundation. He previously was press secretary for Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), and is a PLUS Communications alum.

— Dane Hughes is now a professional staff member for the House Armed Services Committee. He most recently was director of strategy at Research Innovations Inc. and is a Trump DOD alum.

— James Huddleston has joined Alaska Airlines’ government affairs team. He most recently worked at the FAA’s office of congressional affairs, and is a Peter DeFazio alum.

— Keosha Varela is launching her own comms consulting firm, Mission & Purpose Communications. She most recently was senior director of strategic and enterprise comms at the Aspen Institute.

— Dan Horning is now legislative assistant for Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.). He most recently was a government and public services consultant at Deloitte and is a Pat Toomey and Trump White House alum.

— Frank Russo has been named director of the new CPAC Center for Combating Human Trafficking. Russo was director of government and legislative affairs at the National District Attorneys Association and is an alum of the House Judiciary Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee.

New Joint Fundraisers

None.

New PACs

Arizona No Labels Party Voters for Joe Biden (PAC)
Build a Campaign PAC (BACK PAC) (Hybrid PAC)
Committee for a Better Rhode Island (Super PAC)
The Counter (PAC)
Leadership for Ohio Fund (Super PAC)
Payward Ventures, Inc. PAC (Kraken PAC) (PAC)
Question Everything PAC (Super PAC)
Together Fund (Hybrid PAC)
TUSK FIGHT PAC, INC. (Super PAC)
US Federal Blockchain Pac (Hybrid PAC)

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New Lobbying REGISTRATIONS

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP: H.Q. Energy Services (U.S.) Inc.
Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP: Regional Cancer Care Associates
Best Best & Krieger LLP: The Confederated Tribes Of The Warm Springs Reservation Of Oregon
Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP: Life Banc
Capitol Counsel LLC: Carbon Advocacy Project
Crossroads Strategies, LLC: Vifor International Ag (Csl Vifor)
Goldstein Policy Solutions LLC: Filecoin Foundation
Hobart Hallaway & Quayle Ventures, LLC: Type One Energy Group
Hobart Hallaway & Quayle Ventures, LLC: United Launch Alliance LLC
Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell LLP: City Of Atlanta
Larry Puccio, LLC: Cnx Resources Corporation
Lot Sixteen LLC: Coalition For Economic Partnership In The Americas
Mclarty Inbound LLC: Lg Chem, Ltd.
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough: Inmarsat D/B/A Inmarsat Aviation
Perry, White, Ross & Jacobson, LLC: Firstenergy
Prest Public Strategies, LLC: Mahoning County Community Corrections Association, Inc.
Prism Group: American Golf Industry Coalition
Strategic Marketing Innovations: Addman
Tiber Creek Group: Vulcanforms, Inc.
Velos (Formerly Pinnacle Engineering And Management Solutions): Phase Four Inc

STEP INSIDE THE GOLDEN STATE POLITICAL ARENA: YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST … Add California Playbook to your daily reading to keep up with the latest political news and policy moves from deep inside the power centers at the heart of the world’s fourth largest economy. Authors Lara Korte and Dustin Gardiner take you inside the state Capitol and governor's mansion in Sacramento, the mayor’s office and City Council and Los Angeles, and the most influential rooms in Silicon Valley and deliver buzzy scoops and behind-the-scenes details that you simply will not get anywhere else. Subscribe today and stay ahead of the game!

New Lobbying Terminations

Avenue Solutions: Health Care Service Corporation, A Mutual Legal Reserve Company (“Hcsc”)
Avenue Solutions: Organize
Avenue Solutions: Rosalynn Carter Institute For Caregivers, Inc.
Avenue Solutions: Sixteen Thirty Fund
Avenue Solutions: Visiting Nurse Service Of New York
Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz /The Daschle Group: American Association Of Nurse Anesthesiology
Bay Bridge Strategies, Inc.: Bloom Energy
Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP: City Of Cincinnati
Cansler Consulting, LLC: Canpro Investments, Ltd
Cansler Consulting, LLC: Flow-Liner Systems, Ltd.
Cansler Consulting, LLC: Murphy Pipeline Contractors, Inc.
Cansler Consulting, LLC: Sanexen Environmental Services, Inc.
Capitol Counsel LLC: Sight Sciences
Capitol Counsel LLC: The Walter Group LLC On Behalf Of Tweed Inc.
Capitol Counsel LLC: The Walter Group On Behalf Of Cronos USa Client Services LLC
Clark Street Associates: Kyocera Soraa Laser Diode
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: Ecovest Capital, Inc.
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: Gates Policy Initiative
Cornerstone Government Affairs, Inc.: National Federation Of Independent Business, Inc.
Elias Walker, Inc.: Produce Alliance LLC
Forbes-Tate: Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Forbes-Tate: Ginkgo Bioworks
Forbes-Tate: Hermeus Corporation
Forbes-Tate: Northwestern Energy
Forbes-Tate: Procisedx Corporation
Forbes-Tate: Storer Test Express Dba Bustest Express
Forbes-Tate: Versum Materials US, LLC
Hawley LLC: Ml Assoc Obo Clark St Assoc Obo Kyocera Soraa Laser Diode
Hogan Lovells US LLP: American Pakistani Public Affairs Committee
Hogan Lovells US LLP: Cardone Industries Inc.
Hogan Lovells US LLP: Lookingglass Cyber Solutions, Inc.
Hogan Lovells US LLP: Spectrum Brands Holdings Inc
Holland & Knight LLP: Posco America Corp
Holland & Knight LLP: Starplus Energy LLC
K&L Gates, LLP: California Manufacturing Technology Consulting
K&L Gates, LLP: Flex Logix Technologies, Inc.
K&L Gates, LLP: Indie Semiconductor, Inc.
K&L Gates, LLP: Industrial Technology Institute
K&L Gates, LLP: Napa County
K&L Gates, LLP: Redwire Space Inc F/K/A Made In Space
K&L Gates, LLP: Vox Space
K&L Gates, LLP: Wateraid America, Inc.
Lymphoma Research Foundation: Lymphoma Research Foundation
Mason Street Consulting, LLC: Physician Partners | Vip Care
Mww Group: Thomas Edison State University
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough: Canadian National Railway
Owen Evans Ingols: Independence Hydrogen
Resolution Public Affairs, LLC: Wells Fargo & Company
Richard F. Hohlt: First Republic Bank
Strategic Marketing Innovations: Mabus Group Behalf Of Zeel
Tiber Creek Group: Efa Education, LLC
Tiber Creek Group: Marklogic
Tiber Creek Group: National Strategies, LLC (Obo Vulcanforms, Inc.)
Williams And Jensen, Pllc: Advanced Medical Technology Association (Advamed)
Williams And Jensen, Pllc: Biobot Analytics
Williams And Jensen, Pllc: Lifescience Logistics
Williams And Jensen, Pllc: Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated

A message from Air Line Pilots Association, Int'l:

“If it’s not broke, don’t fix it” applies here. Congress should not weaken air safety standards. In the wake of a series of tragic airline accidents, Congress passed the most effective aviation safety law of this century, adopting a comprehensive set of requirements to improve training for pilots that have reduced air fatalities by 99.8%. Now, some in Congress want to weaken those standards and introduce even more risk into the system by raising the mandatory pilot retirement age. Don’t compromise safety, introduce more risk or upend flight operations.