As Congress Tilts to Full GOP Control, Commerce Committees Change Shape

Senate Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., lost his re-election by 17 points to Rep. Tom Cotton, R-Ark. Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., an Intelligence Committee member and surveillance critic, lost his re-election bid to Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., by five points. A House Communications Subcommittee member, Gardner is a critic of government surveillance programs and what he has deemed government stimulus money waste in broadband infrastructure programs. Gardner also criticized retransmission consent rules and backed video legislation with Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La.

Several high-profile lawmakers are retiring after their current terms end, including Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., and House Commerce Committee ranking member Henry Waxman, D-Calif. Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., an active lawmaker on rural call completion problems, will also retire after this term. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., is expected to replace Rockefeller as top Democrat on Senate Commerce, and committee ranking member John Thune, R-S.D., is expected to become the next chairman.

Lobbyists were unsure of who the next top Democrat on the Senate Communications Subcommittee would be, with Pryor gone. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is next in seniority but few thought she would take those reins. Telecommunications Industry Association Vice President-Government Relations Danielle Coffey suggested watching Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., or Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. Veronica O'Connell, CEA vice president-congressional affairs, also pointed to the leadership on tech issues of Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., a member of that subcommittee and the Judiciary Committee. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., will likely be "stepping up more, becoming the leader on some of the telecom issues," O'Connell said.

“Gardner’s a huge gain,” with demonstrated “leadership on the tech issues,” said O’Connell, calling him a “rising star” worth watching.

Telecom Not Much in Mix

Telecom priorities ranked high for few candidates. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., chairman of the Judiciary Privacy Subcommittee, has trumpeted his concerns about Comcast’s proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable and his belief in strong net neutrality rules (see 1402240046), and he cruised to easy re-election. Sens. Markey and Cory Booker, D-N.J., both Communications Subcommittee members, won full Senate terms and had highlighted telecom issues. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., seemed victorious against Republican consultant Ed Gillespie. Warner is a former Nextel executive who has dug in on spectrum and data breach policy concerns (see 1409090032). Shenna Bellows, former head of the American Civil Liberties Union's Maine chapter, challenged and lost by double digits to Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. Bellows prioritized net neutrality protections and surveillance (see 1406040057).

Rick Boucher, a former Democratic Communications Subcommittee chairman from Virginia, spent much of the past week campaigning for Warner’s Virginia bid, he told us. Warner “has an interest in telecommunications, and I think we can expect him to be involved in the effort” of overhauling the Communications Act in the Senate, Boucher said.

Larry Pressler, a former Republican senator from South Dakota, lost his independent bid in an open race against multiple other candidates. He had told us he planned to focus on rewriting the Communications Act if elected (see 1407160021). Polling had tightened but Mike Rounds, the GOP nominee and a former state governor, easily won.

Communications Subcommittee Results

In the House Commerce Committee, 13 Republicans and nine Democrats on the Communications Subcommittee won re-election bids Tuesday night.

The one loser is Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., chairman of the Trade Subcommittee. Terry was several thousand votes shy of victory and conceded defeat. CEA’s O’Connell lamented Terry’s loss, citing his engagement on tech issues. Departing subcommittee members include Mike Rogers, R-Mich., also chairman of the Intelligence Committee, who is leaving Congress to pursue a talk radio job, and retiring members such as John Dingell, D-Mich., Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and Waxman. Two subcommittee members left to pursue Senate seats, one victorious. Gardner beat Udall handily while Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, lost to state Republican lawmaker Joni Ernst in a close race for Iowa’s Senate seat.

Fewer changes hit the Senate Communications Subcommittee aside from the loss of Pryor, its top Democrat. Most Republican and Democratic members were not up for re-election this cycle. Sen. John Walsh, D-Mont., had initially sought re-election but dropped that campaign amid scandals over past plagiarism. Among Democrats, Booker, Markey and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, won, and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., also secured a full term. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, was losing his fight by close to four points but had not officially conceded. Begich had focused on USF and recently led FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler in a tour of Alaska.

The California 17th District was another highly watched House race. Rep. Mike Honda, D-Calif., maintained a lead in the polls Wednesday against Ro Khanna, also a Democrat and former deputy assistant secretary of Commerce during President Barack Obama's first term. Khanna has attracted prominent tech industry backers while Honda had retained the backing of the White House. They both back strong net neutrality rules and criticize government surveillance policies.

Robert McDowell, a former Republican FCC commissioner now with Wiley Rein, pointed to the race of Barbara Comstock, a Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates who easily won Virginia’s 10th District congressional seat. She has already been on the state legislature’s committee overseeing tech and telecom issues and it will be interesting to see whether she lands on the House Commerce Committee, McDowell said. Her campaign website touts her state legislation on telework and tax incentives to promote data centers and tech jobs.

Comstock’s run attracted interest from donors in the telecom space. Verizon lobbyist Tom Tauke donated $2,500 to Comstock in February and another $1,000 in July and Verizon’s Ed McFadden, executive director-media relations, made a personal donation of $2,600 to Comstock in March, according to records from the Center for Responsive Politics. Verizon lobbyist Peter Davidson also donated, giving $250 in April and $500 in September, as did lobbyist Joanna McIntosh. Sprint’s Susan Haller has also donated repeatedly throughout the last year. In September, Richard Wiley, a former FCC chairman now leading the communications practice at Wiley Rein, donated $1,600 to Comstock. She raised just shy of $3 million, more than Democratic opponent John Foust, and the Center for Responsive Politics lists Verizon as a top contributor, giving $10,350.

“Telecom issues don’t tend to sway independent voters,” said McDowell.

Public Knowledge Government Affairs Associate Martyn Griffen agreed telecom and media topics rarely dominate the campaign trail in the way certain other visceral political issues do. “With net neutrality, the big activity takes place at the FCC,” with Capitol Hill lawmakers not tackling it as front and center, Griffen said, considering the millions of comments the agency received on the topic and the relatively minimal focus on the issue in the midterm elections. “I’d like to think those who are voting are still engaged on the issue.”