Industry Executives Hedge Bets on White House Contenders for 2016

Clinton raised more than $47 million in 2015’s second quarter, more than double what other candidates including Bush and Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Rand Paul, R-Ky., Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., attracted through their campaign committees. Bush raised about $11.4 million through his campaign committee but also relies on money from a super political action committee known as Right to Rise, which reported raising $103 million from its January formation through June 30. That money comes from close to 10,000 undisclosed donors with no contribution limits.

“Historically, early money in presidential campaigns tends to follow conventional wisdom and, therefore, who is seen as the early establishment candidates of both parties,” said Robert McDowell, a former FCC commissioner now with Wiley Rein. “That dynamic can change quickly, however, as polls fluctuate and actual voting in the early caucuses and primaries begins. Opinion polls at this stage are largely reflective of name identification and not much else. Even activist partisan primary voters aren't really paying much attention to the presidential race yet, so polls are somewhat meaningless right now.”

Within the FCC itself, Wheeler’s senior counselor Philip Verveer and special counsel Diane Cornell gave the maximum donations of $2,700 each to Clinton, while counselor Gigi Sohn donated $250. Brian Regan, chief of staff to Wireless Bureau Chief Roger Sherman, donated $1,000 to Clinton.

Executives Freely Giving

At least a dozen Comcast officials donated $2,700 each to Clinton's campaign, including Senior Executive Vice President David Cohen, who helped fundraise for President Barack Obama. Others were Senior Vice President-Global Public Policy Rebecca Arbogast; Senior Vice President-Administration Karen Buchholz; Cable Chief Procurement Officer Peter Kiriacoulacos; Foundation President Charisse Lillie; Senior Vice President-Corporate Development Robert Pick; Executive Director-Federal Government Affairs Joseph Trahern; Senior Vice President Robert Victor; Senior Vice President-Regulatory/State Legislative Affairs Kathryn Zachem; and Karima Zedan, head of Internet Essentials. Other officials gave smaller amounts, such as Senior Vice President Melissa Maxfield, who heads Comcast’s lobbying force.

Verizon and Dish officials also spent freely on Clinton -- Verizon's General Counsel Craig Silliman, Associate General Counsel William Johnson and Senior Vice President Kathleen Grillo were among the telco’s many officials giving $2,700 each. Dish General Counsel Stanton Dodge, Deputy General Counsel Jeff Blum and Roger Lynch, Dish’s Sling TV CEO, Executive Vice President Jim DeFranco and Chief Operating Officer Bernie Han all maxed out their contributions to Clinton, and were not alone among Dish employees. AT&T’s Lyndon Boozer, a Democratic lobbyist, maxed out his contribution to her, as did DirecTV General Counsel Larry Hunter. NTCA CEO Shirley Bloomfield gave Clinton $350. Others who gave the highest possible donations to Clinton include Reed Hundt, a Democratic FCC chairman during the administration of Bill Clinton, former FCC Commissioner Andrew Barrett and Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.

But the other 2016 contender receiving substantial donations from those with apparent ties to telecom was Bush. NAB CEO Gordon Smith, a former Republican senator, and DirecTV CEO Michael White both gave $2,700 to Bush, records show. Verizon Executive Director-Media Relations Ed McFadden gave that amount, too, along with Comcast’s Page Thompson and former FCC Chairman Dick Wiley, who now runs the communications practice at Wiley Rein.

Open Internet Implications

Net neutrality divides Democratic and Republican contenders, with Clinton and Sanders receptive to some Communications Act Title II reclassification of broadband and Bush and Rubio blasting the order and seeking changes. Free Press President Craig Aaron led a panel at the Netroots Nation conference in Arizona last week focused on how net neutrality factors into the 2016 race. Several lawmakers told us a change of administration could mean a shift in telecom policy, though less so under Clinton (see 1504160034">1504160034).

“I guess it depends a lot on who the individual candidates are,” Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune, R-S.D., said in an interview about the election's effect on telecom policy. “They’re all going to bring their own perspectives to those issues, but obviously if you get a Republican president, I’m guessing you’re probably going to have a different take on a lot of the issues, particularly from a regulatory standpoint.”

“The biggest issue is obviously whether the White House flips, especially given the partisan split on net neutrality,” said Kevin Werbach, professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and a member of the Obama administration’s FCC transition team. Werbach said the next FCC will depend on who advises the president, the administration's management style and the identity of the next FCC chair.

“It's clear that several presidential candidates recognize the importance of engaging the tech community, which is a key economic driver of jobs in our changing economy,” said Internet Freedom Business Alliance Executive Director Lauren Culbertson, a former Republican Senate staffer. “Net neutrality is a top priority for the tech community as it ensures a level playing field, breeding competition and innovation.” Alliance members include Cogent, Comptel and Engine. Culbertson wants “meaningful dialogue” with presidential candidates and said voters will respond accordingly: “Furthermore, from an electoral perspective, the principles of net neutrality are highly popular among key voting groups, especially Latinos, millennials and people of faith. Polls show that they believe net neutrality is good for small businesses, supports innovation and helps ensure freedom of speech.”

“I have a lot of confidence in Hillary Clinton's support for an open Internet, here and abroad, based on her work as a senator, secretary of state, and now as a candidate,” said Marvin Ammori, an attorney who advised tech clients and fought for tough net neutrality protections. Ammori pointed to Clinton’s co-sponsorship of pro-net neutrality legislation with Obama and her commitment in 2010 that Internet freedom “would be a core pillar of American foreign policy.”

"Stating the obvious, an FCC appointed by a Republican president will be less regulatory than one appointed by a Democrat,” McDowell said. “Beyond that, observers should not make the mistake of thinking that a Hillary Clinton FCC would act like the Bill Clinton FCCs of the 1990s. Bill's FCC was rather deregulatory, in some respects. The ideology of the Democratic party on key issues, such as the regulation of the Internet, has changed significantly since then. The core of the Democratic base wants more regulation in practically all corners of the media and telecom space. A Republican FCC will probably spend its first couple of years erasing many of the regulations put in place by the Obama-era FCC. First on the GOP list, of course, will be reversing the classification of IP-based information services as Title II common carriage."

Industry Checks for Rubio

Records from other candidates’ official donation records revealed fewer telecom stakeholders making contributions. Rubio, who has focused on freeing up spectrum, received a handful -- McDowell gave Rubio $2,700, as did 21st Century Fox Executive Vice President-Government Relations Michael Regan, Verizon Vice President-Public Policy David Young, Verizon Vice President Robert Fisher and Bruce Mehlman, assistant secretary of commerce for tech policy under the George W. Bush administration. CTIA Assistant Vice President-Government Affairs Jaime Hjort gave Rubio $250, and former NTIA administrator Nancy Victory gave $400. Mike Senkowski, a former FCC chief of staff under Wiley, donated to Rubio.

"Marco Rubio is the one presidential candidate -- out of all Republicans and Democrats -- who has personally delved into the weeds of the most complex telecom policies,” McDowell said. “Most notably, I worked closely with him and his office on the unanimous resolution he pushed through Senate in advance of the World Conference on International Telecommunications in 2012 defining the foreign policy of the U.S. as being opposed to international regulation of the Internet in any form.” McDowell praised Rubio’s leadership on spectrum overhaul and other efforts: “His campaign statements and speeches on the need for a new forward-looking tech policy agenda have been the most notable and in-depth on these subjects of any candidate."

Shane Linse, president of Montana’s Big Sky Communication & Cable, apparently was one of the few telecom donors to give $2,700 to Cruz. Sanders, despite receiving millions in donations in his bid for the Democratic nomination, didn’t get any donations from known telecom executives in our review. Donald Trump suffered the same lack. Scott Walker, the Wisconsin governor running for the GOP nomination and ranking high among the 16 GOP contenders, only officially announced his candidacy July 13. Walker and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, another GOP nominee, aren't required to file campaign donation records until the next quarterly deadline. Wiley Rein’s David Gross, chair of the firm’s international telecommunications group, is the only individual in this space observed to have donated to two competing candidates -- Bush and Rubio.

Tech industry players favored Clinton and Bush. Among those favoring Clinton are Amazon Senior Vice President Jay Carney, most recently White House press secretary; Chris Hughes, a Facebook co-founder who now publishes The New Republic; TechNet CEO Linda Moore; and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, among several other Facebook officials. Microsoft officials also gave many thousands of dollars, including from Frederick Humphries, one of the company’s lobbyists in Washington, and Josh Gottheimer, once a senior aide to former FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and now running for a House seat in New Jersey’s 5th district as a Democratic candidate. Among those giving to Bush, Oracle Vice Chairman Jeff Henley gave the maximum contribution, as did Joel Kaplan, Facebook vice president-global policy and former White House deputy chief of staff for policy in under George W. Bush. Frank Cavaliere, who heads government affairs for Microsoft, gave Rubio $2,700, and Google lobbyist Lee Dunn donated $1,000 to Rubio.

Early on this year, Democrats and public interest groups warned of what they feared would be the onslaught of campaign money -- and some want the FCC to respond accordingly. “Big money corrodes democracy and has already inflicted incalculable damage on our country,” said former FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, now with Common Cause. “The first thing to do, while we work on the systemic problem of cutting out this cancer completely, is to bring sunlight onto who is actually contributing all these billions.” He pressed his desire for the FCC to take action and “demand real in-ad disclosure” immediately. “What's stopping them?"