PolitiFi Newsletter #6 - Corporate Lobbyists Bundled Millions For Senate Democrats
Senate Democrats Take Millions Via Corporate Lobbyists, First Half Super PAC Report, Government Stock Tracker, and more
The Lead
DSCC Received $2M+ In Lobbyist Bundled Donations—Here’s A Look At Their Corporate Clients
According to new FEC filings, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) received $2,118,470 in lobbyist-bundled donations during the first half of 2021. Of the 24 lobbyists and associated PACs that bundled for the Senate Democrats’ fundraising body, more than half represented at least one major or otherwise noteworthy corporations. Some of the companies the DSCC bundlers represent range from the standard and predictable Pharmaceutical and Defense sectors—from Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson to Raytheon and Honeywell. Though no lobbyist money is good, some clients represented by the DSCC’s bundlers also tread into territory which isn’t great optics for Democrats to be drawing money from: ExxonMobil, Koch Industries, and private prison manufacturer CoreCivic to name a few. On another—if not, for some, conflicting—note, nearly half of the reported bundlers currently represent at least one Native American Tribe or Community, of which almost two dozen of which are accounted for in the pool of clients those lobbyists represent.
Here’s a breakdown of the reported fundraisers and their notable clients (if bundled by a PAC, client list will pull from firm’s current overall representation):
Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber, Schreck (via PAC)—$227,550
Notable Clients: American Petroleum Institute; Anthem; Apollo Management; Ares Management; AT&T; Caesar’s Entertainment; Centene; Dell; Dominion Voting; Duke Energy; ExxonMobil; FedEx; General Motors; Johnson & Johnson; Marriot International; Marubeni Oil & Gas; McDonald’s; Mewbourne Oil; Navajo Nation; NCAA; Novartis; Oracle; Qualcomm; Red Rock Resorts; Royal Caribbean; Salesforce; Tenet Healthcare (Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin sat on board prior to appointment); Uber; UFC; US Chamber of Commerce; White Mountain Apache Tribe; Wynn Resorts
Heather Podesta, Invariant LLC—$177,000
Notable Clients: H&R Block; National Association of Realtors; Nextera Energy; Palantir Technologies; SpaceX
American Association For Justice (Trial Lawyer Advocacy Group)—$147,570
Mary Pavel, Sonosky, Chambers, Sachse, Endreson, & Perry—$142,000
Notable Clients: Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Reservation; Hualapai Tribe; Manzanita Band of Diegueno Mission Indians; Puyallup Tribe of Washington; Skokomish Tribe; Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
Michael Smith, Cornerstone Government Affairs—$141,500
Notable Clients: Centene; CitiGroup; Google; Microsoft; NASCAR; Boeing; Cherokee Nation; Native American Contractors Association; Sac & Fox Tribe Of The Mississippi In Iowa; Tunica Biloxi Tribe Of Louisiana; United Airlines
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer, & Field (via PAC)—$117,000
Notable Clients: Amazon; Americans For Prosperity; Apollo Management; AT&T; Bayer (fomerly Monsanto); Charter Communications; Comcast; Corecivic (private prison manufacturers); CVS Health; EQT; Equifax; ExxonMobil; FireEye; Hawkeye 360 (National Cyber Director John Inglis recently divested his stake in June); Honeywell; HP; IBM; Koch Companies; KKR; Liberty Mutual; National Association of Realtors; National Association of Theatre Owners; National Restaurant Association; New Venture Fund; Nextera Energy; Pfizer; PhRMA; Pipeline Contractors Association; Qualcomm; Raytheon; Salesforce
Caryn Dyson, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer, & Field—$102,000
Notable Clients: National Association of Theatre Owners; Oneida Indian Nation; Gila River Indian Community;
Rock Holdings PAC—$101,500
Jonathon Jones, Tiber Creek (formerly Peck, Madigan, Jones)—$100,000
Notable Clients: Amgen; Anthem; AstraZeneca; Blue Cross Blue Shield; Bristol Myers Squibb; Honeywell; Merck; PhRMA; Qualcomm
Melanie Nathanson, Nathanson+Hauck—$89,800
Notable Clients: Blue Cross Blue Shield
Devin Rhinerson, PACE LLP—$88,000
Notable Clients: Catawba Indian Nation of South Carolina; Colorado River Indian Tribes; Morongo Band of Mission Indians; Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin; Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community; Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians
Lisa Kountoupes, KDCR—$77,000
Notable Clients: America’s Health Insurance Plans; CVS; Intel; Juul; Kinder Morgan; Sixteen Thirty Fund
Philip Baker-Shenk, Holland & Knight—$73,000
Notable Clients: Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota (Sioux) Community
Loretta Tuell, Tuell Law—$73,000
Allison Binney, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Field—$72,000
Notable Clients: Oneida Indian Nation; Gila River Indian Community; Seneca Nation; San Manuel Band of Mission Indians; Penobscot Nation
American Health Care Association PAC—$66,500
Andy Winer, Strategies 360—$50,000
Notable Clients: Charter Communications; Chickasaw Nation
Greg Porter, Catalyst—$50,000
Denise Desiderio, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Field—$45,500
Notable Clients: Gila River Indian Community; San Manuel Band of Mission Indians; New Venture Fund
Emily Katz, Prime Policy Group—$45,350
Notable Clients: Allina Health; American Association For Home Care
Jeffrey Wiener, MWS Global Strategies—$39,000
Notable Clients: American Postal Workers Union, AFL-CIO; Noosphere Ventures; Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo Tribe
Jessica Straus, Dish Network (in-house lobbying)—$36,500
Pamela Smith, Tarplin, Downs & Young—$30,000
Notable Clients: 10X Genomics; Abbvie; Amgen; Anthem; AstraZeneca; Blue Cross Blue Shield; Bristol Myers Squibb; Gilead Sciences; Merck; Novo Nordisk; PhRMA
Sarah Egge, SplitOak Strategies—$26,700
Notable Clients: Bristol Myers Squibb, UnitedHealth
Mid-Year SuperPAC Roundup
It’s the middle of the year, so that means reports for many of the most prominent SuperPACs in the election industry are reporting updated numbers. Given the fact that it’s a midterm off year, many of 2020’s powerplayers have yet to hit their stride. However, being as it’s the beginning of a brand new election cycle, it’s important we begin tracking these influence campaigns now—so by the time the SuperPAC game is in full-swing, the public can have been educated on who is funding who, and why.
Here’s the breakdown of the major SuperPAC players, including last year’s heavy-hitters and this year’s movers (so far):
SMP (D)—Democratic Senatorial SuperPAC SMP, raised over $372 million in the 2020 election cycle, spending over $230 million on mostly attacking GOP candidates for Senate. Some of that boiled over into early 2021, with Georgia special elections seeing SMP donate to their two pro-Ossoff/Warnock SuperPACs, The Georgia Way ($60,000) and Georgia Honor ($120,000), as well as $10,000 to Women Vote! SMP spent roughly $10 million in operating expenses and repaid a $10 million loan. No independent expenditures were made during the reporting period. The SuperPACs largest pool of support came from dark-money organization Majority Forward, as well as various labor unions.
Raised $25,550,684 / Spent $21,124,363 / COH $4,833,007
Top Donors: Majority Forward ($4,000,000); Working For Working Americans ($2,000,000); Greater New York Hospital Association Management Corporation ($1,000,000); Olan Mills, Retired ($1,000,000); American Federation of Teachers COPE ($1,000,000); LiUNA PAC ($500,000); LiUNA Building America ($500,000); Jon Stryker, President of Depot Landmark LLC ($300,000); Marcia Grand, Retired ($250,000); IBEW PAC ($250,000); Zinc Collective LLC ($250,000); UA Union Plumbers & Pipefitters Vote PAC ($250,000); Amy Goldman Fowler, Author ($250,000); International Union of Painters and Allied Trades PAC ($170,000); Eric Laufer, Engineer at Laufer Wind ($125,000); Giovanna Randall, Fashion Designer ($125,000); Louise Gund, Philanthropist/Photographer ($100,000); International Union of Operating Engineers ($100,000); James Attwood, Managing Partner at Carlyle Group ($100,000); International Association of Firefighters Interested in Registration and Education PAC ($100,00)
Senate Leadership Fund (R)—After spending $450 million dollars supporting GOP Senatorial candidates last cycle, Senate Leadership Fund started off 2021 by spending roughly $211,000 on ads during the Georgia special Senate elections. Other than that, the Mitch McConnell aligned Senate Leadership Fund had a rather quiet first half. The outfit did get most of its support from the fossil fuel industry, with substantial donations coming from Occidental Petroleum and Chevron. Richard Devos, the husband of former Trump-era Education Secretary Betsy Devos, also contributed six figures to the group.
Raised $6,124,913 / Spent $4,739,388 / COH $6,552,200
Top Donors: Occidental Petroleum ($2,000,000); Chevron Corporation ($625,000); Peachtree PAC ($450,000); Richard Devos, Executive of RDV Corporation ($250,000); Ronald Cameron, Chairman of Mountaire Corp ($250,000); Ovintiv USA Inc ($150,000); Doug Leone, Global Managing Partner of Sequoia Capital ($125,000); Patricia Perkins-Leone, Homemaker ($125,000); Alticor Inc ($100,000); James Pope, Variety Wholesalers ($100,000)
Congressional Leadership Fund (R)—CLF acts in the same capacity as Senate Leadership Fund, except for House races. It didn’t do practically anything in the way of independent expenditures at the mid year point so far, though it did manage to pull a decent $11 million, with major GOP donors Kenneth Griffin and Paul Singer still showing interest in the SuperPAC, albeit early. Big Oil dipped its toes into the PAC as well, with Chevron and Valero making six-figure contributions.
Raised $11,895,239 / Spent $1,728,586 / COH $10,575,753
Top Donors: American Action Network ($3,486,228); OTA Holdings Inc ($1,000,000); Kenneth Griffin, CEO of Citadel Asset Management ($1,000,000); Paul Singer, President of EMC ($1,000,000); Hillwood Development Co. ($1,000,000); Bernard Marcus, Philanthropist ($500,000); Warren Stephens, President of Stephens Inc ($500,000); Chevron Corporation ($500,000); Take Back The House 2022 ($384,686); WPX Energy ($250,000); Ronald Cameron, Chairman of Mountaire Corporation ($250,000); Robert Rowling, Executive at TRT Holdings ($250,000); Walter Buckley Jr, Retired ($250,000); Philip Anschutz, Investor at The Anschutz Corporation ($125,000); Harlan R. Crow Family Branch Partnership ($100,000); Valero Services Inc ($100,000)
American Bridge PAC (D)—The Super PAC arm of former Clinton operative David Brock’s dark money group, which spent $60 million trying to get Joe Biden elected, mostly spent on payroll during the first half of 2021. Most of their prominent donors were in the financial sector, such as Lone Pine Capital’s Stephen Mandel and Sequoia Capital’s Michael Moritz.
Raised $10,159,038 / Spent $3,852,978 / COH $6,966,256
Top Donors: Stephen Mandel, Founder of Lone Pine Capital ($2,000,000); Michael Moritz, Partner at Sequoia Capital ($1,000,000); Deborah Simon, Retired ($500,000); Amy Fowler, Author ($250,000); Philip Ragon, Founder of InterSystems Inc ($250,000); Mellody Hobson, co-CEO of Ariel Investments ($250,000); Stephen Silberstein, Retired ($250,000); Paul Sagan, Managing Partner at General Catalyst Partners ($250,000); American Association for Justice PAC ($150,000); Cynthia Miscikowski, The Ring Group ($150,000); Quinn Delaney, Board Chair of Akonadi Foundation ($125,000); Wayne Jordan, Owner of Jordan Real Estate Investments ($125,000); James Millstein, Consultant at Millstein & Co. ($125,000); James Crown, Private Investor at Henry Crown & Co ($100,000); David Peeler, Senior Advisor at Berkshire Partners ($100,000); Douglas Foshee, Owner of Sallyport Investments ($100,000); Gail Rothenberg, Investor ($100,000); James Scott, Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft ($100,000); Diane Trombetta, Retired ($100,000); Dennis Eck, Retailer at Eck Family LLC ($100,000); Bernard Schwartz, Loral Space Communications ($100,000); American Bridge 21st Century Foundation ($100,000); James Attwood, Managing Partner of The Carlyle Group ($100,000); Olan Mills, Owner of Olan Mills Inc ($100,000); Anne Earhart, Self-Employed Investor ($100,000); Henry Wallace, Non-Profit Director ($100,000)
Priorities USA (D)—Joe Biden’s largest SuperPAC in the 2020 election is predictably laying low, only spending a few hundred-thousand in operating expenses and remaining practically dormant for the time being.
Raised $1,093,118 / Spent $314,279 / COH $2,438,464
Top Donors: Letter Carrier Political Fund ($250,000); Marc Fasteau, Retired ($200,000); Martha Samuelson, CEO of Analysis Group ($100,000); Cliff Burnstein, Manager at Q Prime Inc ($100,000); James Brooks, Retired ($100,000)
Club For Growth Action (R)—This GOP backing SuperPAC spent a decent portion of the first half of this year backing Trump-endorsed Susan Wright in her failed runoff bid in the Indiana special. They seem to be staying on that track, recently pouring tens of thousands of dollars into a campaign targeting former NC Governor Pat McCrory—the opponent of the Trump-backed Ted Budd in the 2022 NC Senate race. FEC filings show that the PAC is being floated in large part by one of former President Trump’s largest financial backers from years past, Richard Uihlein.
Raised $6,548,305 / Spent $719,152 / COH $10,877,284
Top Donors: Richard Uihlein, CEO of Uline ($3,900,000); Jeff Yass, Managing Director at SIG ($2,500,000); Robert Luddy, Executive at Captive-Air Systems Inc ($100,000)
Protect Ohio Values PAC (R)—This SuperPAC is going to be supporting Republican JD Vance’s Senatorial bid in Ohio, with conservative billionaire Peter Thiel making good on his promise to back the candidate—giving $10 million to the outfit to jumpstart the war chest. The group spent a lot of money on polling, suggesting that the outfit is weighing its options on how to effectively spent Thiel’s contributions.
Raised $10,154,906 / Spent $1,765,479 / COH $8,389,427
Top Donors: Peter Thiel, President of Thiel Capital ($10,000,000)
Saving Arizona PAC (R)—Similar to Protect Ohio values PAC, this SuperPAC aims to back Republican Blake Masters in their quest to win the upcoming Senate election in Arizona—and billionaire Peter Thiel is the one bankrolling it.
Raised $10,000,000 / Spent $218,913 / COH $9,781,088
Top Donors: Peter Thiel, President of Thiel Capital ($10,000,000)
Democracy PAC (D)—Predictably, after spending over $80 million funding pro Biden and pro-Democrat SuperPACs throughout the previous election cycle, George Soros’ personal SuperPAC seems to be taking some time to cool off. The group got most of its money for the last six months in the form of either donations from Soros himself, or reimbursements for staff time provided by his hedge fund management firm, which most of the PAC’s expenses went to.
Raised $159,369 / Spent $410,030 / COH $54,824
Future Forward PAC (D)—Another one of the Democrats’ SuperPACs of the previous cycle, the silicon valley powered Future Forward USA PAC (who spent over $141 million on independent expenditures last election), like many of the power players from 2020, seems to be taking some down time. Most of it’s money came from an in house transfer from Future Forward’s dark money nonprofit, with another $1,000,000 coming in the form of a refund from Waterfront Strategies, their go-to ad buyer.
Raised $2,379,962 / Spent $2,163,987 / COH $975,259
Top Donors: Future Forward USA Action ($1,379,962); Waterfront Strategies ($1,000,000)
Americans For Prosperity Action (R)—This Koch-backed SuperPAC has been a stalwart in the outside spending game for years, backing GOP candidates in both House and Senate races, as it did to the tune of over $47 million last cycle. The group has not reported any independent expenditures prior to the 06/30 deadline.
Raised $1,187,085 / Spent $12,198 / COH $1,979,174
Top Donors: Gavin Herbert, Retired ($100,000)
America First Action (R)—Donald Trump’s largest SuperPAC backer during his time in office (nearly $134 million spent in 2020 alone), AFP has kept a low profile lately. Thier mid-year report showed the group’s largest expense was a $1,787,902 donation to another pro-Trump SuperPAC, Make America Great Again Action. Nearly half of the PAC’s money for the period came from their parent organization, the Linda McMahon helmed dark money group, America First Policy Institute.
Raised $2,042,848 / Spent $2,664,236 / COH $2,697,098
Top Donors: America First Policy Institute ($808,302)
The Lincoln Project (D)—Scandal plagued SuperPAC The Lincoln Project raised eyebrows this week with their FEC reports showing that while the group brought in almost $5 million, they spent nearly $9 million—and getting the coffers nearly dry in the process. They spent over $1.3 million on ads and $964,000 on legal fees. As pointed out by Rob Pyers of California Target Book, hundreds of thousands of dollars went to LLCs and companies owned by or otherwise linked to Lincoln Project members themselves, such as $410,000 being paid to Reed Galen’s Summit Strategic and nearly $250,000 to Ben Howe’s Third Act Media.
Raised $4,823,901 / Spent $8,733,487 / COH $1,610,113
Top Donors: Arthur Kern, Chairman of American Media ($100,000); Peter Kellner, Investor at Richmond Global
Trump Campaign Committees Still Maintain $117M Warchest
Recent FEC filings show that former President Donald Trump’s numerous fundraising committees from his time in office still hold a cumulative total of $117,974,880 in their collective coffers.
Trump’s small dollar, grassroots committee, Trump Make America Great Again Committee, raised nearly $30 million for the first half of the year, ending with just over $14 million after sending nearly $7 million to the RNC, $5.8 million to Trump’s MAGA PAC, and a whopping $53.8 million to Trump’s Leadership PAC, Save America. Save America, the Leadership PAC, didn’t raise much outside of the massive transfer from their sister committee, and after spending $2 million on expenses and donating $1 million to the Trump aligned dark money group, America First Policy Institute, ended the period with over $90 million in the bank.
MAGA PAC, which is the rebranded name of the former President’s official campaign committee, pulled in $10 million, with nearly 60% coming from Trump Make America Great Again Committee’s transfer, and wound up with almost $8 million in cash remaining at the deadline. Trump’s former joint-fundraising PAC, also called Save America, brought in nearly $20.5 million for the first half of 2021—and after sending over $8 million to other Trump-related committees and spending $7.6 million on day to day operations, the committee was left with just over $4 million left. Trump’s Victory Fund was the most sluggish of his several committees—not receiving any donations, and ending the period with just under $2 million cash on hand.
After all the dust has settled and math has been worked out, that leaves the former President with over $117 million scattered about his various fundraising committees and PACs. Trying to predict what he plans on doing with it, well—we know better than that.
Government Stock Tracker
Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ03)
Rep. Ed Case (D-HI01)
Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI06)
Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D-FL23)
Rep. Lori Trahan (D-MA03)
Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO05)
Rep. David Joyce (R-OH14)
Rep. Trey Hollingsworth (R-IN09)
Rep. Kathy Castor (D-FL14) 2
Sen. Angus King (I-ME)