Gottheimer Run Attracting Ongoing Attention From Washington
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and other national figures have continued to push for the Democratic House campaign of former senior FCC official Josh Gottheimer, who worked for former FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. “I'm on your team!” Booker, a Commerce Committee…
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member, tweeted of Gottheimer over the weekend, expressing excitement over a national press account of Gottheimer's campaign for the 5th district seat from New Jersey (see 1505060023). Over the summer, some Washington figures, including Genachowski and ex-Clinton administration officials, were already favoring Gottheimer, a former speechwriter for President Bill Clinton who now works for Microsoft and chairs a nonprofit JerseyOn. Commerce Deputy Secretary Bruce Andrews donated hundreds of dollars over 2015’s Q2 and Q3, and White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Jason Furman donated $2,700 in Q2, according to records from the Federal Election Commission. Former FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief Jamie Barnett, now at Venable, donated $1,000 in Q2. Industry figures financially favoring Gottheimer’s run include AT&T Senior Vice President Bob Quinn and Democratic lobbyist Lyndon Boozer, Comcast Vice President Kathryn Zachem, NAB General Counsel Rick Kaplan, RIAA Executive Vice President Michele Ballantyne, Softbank Executive Vice President Bruce Gottlieb, Verizon Senior Vice President Kathleen Grillo and Ultra Mobile CEO David Glickman. Gottheimer is facing incumbent Rep. Scott Garrett, R-N.J., in the seat for multiple terms and scoring his last win with 55 percent of the vote. He has an opponent in the June 7 primary; Gottheimer does not. Gottheimer touted $934,191 on hand by Q3, compared with $2.3 million for Garrett. Former Republican FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell, now with Wiley Rein, wrote on Twitter of running into Gottheimer on the Amtrak Acela train in November: "He looks happy," McDowell wrote. "Running for office suits him."