A new super PAC has been formed to support the planned third-party presidential ticket of the bipartisan political group No Labels. The group’s treasurer is the president and COO of a hedge fund that recently laid off 150 employees, and its political adviser is a Republican strategist who formerly worked for a firm that provided large companies with union avoidance services.
The super PAC, New Leaders 2024, said it had $2 million in commitments to back a bipartisan ticket from No Labels, according to the New York Times, and that it expects to raise up to $300 million. “New Leaders 2024 is being formed to support the election of a No Labels Unity Ticket, should one be named in the coming weeks,” the group said in a statement.
No Labels’ largest vehicle is a “dark money” nonprofit group that does not disclose its donors. A political organization it formed in 2022 for its presidential plans has been overwhelmingly funded by corporate executives. In 2023, billionaire investors like hedge fund co-founder Howard Marks and private equity executives from firms like Bain Capital used a No Labels PAC to funnel contributions to members of Congress.
The super PAC’s incorporation paperwork was filed with the Federal Election Commission by Andrew Fishman, was identified by the group as a Democrat who has a business background. Fishman is the president and COO of investment company Schonfeld Strategic Advisors, founded in 1988, which incorporates hedge fund strategies in its business. Fishman is serving as New Leaders 2024’s treasurer.
Fishman began working with Schonfeld in 2004, according to his LinkedIn profile. In November, the hedge fund laid off 15% of its staff, mostly in non-investment roles like the information technology teams, after talks of a potential partnership were scuttled.
The firm Schonfeld is a member of the top trade association for hedge funds, the Managed Funds Association (MFA), which in 2022 lobbied against efforts by Democrats in Congress to narrow the “carried interest” tax rules used by many investment managers to reduce their tax rates. The trade group’s CEO Bryan Corbett warned that changing the tax treatment “would punish entrepreneurs in investment partnerships,” and the legislative proposal was dropped by Senate Democrats after demands by Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who was then a Democrat and re-registered as an Independent.
In his political giving, Fishman has contributed largely to Democratic groups like the Biden Victory Fund joint fundraising committee and the super PAC Senate Majority PAC, according to a review of FEC records. A leader of the No Labels-founded Problem Solvers Caucus, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), has received more than $27,000 from Fishman, and the Problem Solvers Heroes PAC received $25,000 from Fishman in 2019. He has also made a few donations to Republicans, like former Rep. Joe Cunningham (S.C.) and former Rep. Fred Upton (Mich.).
The new super PAC’s adviser is Rob Stutzman, who was described by the group as a California Republican political consultant who was deputy chief of staff to Arnold Schwarzenegger in his 2003 run for governor. Through his Sacramento-based public affairs firm, Stutzman’s clients include unnamed Fortune 500 companies and trade associations in industries like manufacturing and consumer products.
In 2019, Stutzman was the spokesman for a bondholder group that included the hedge fund of billionaire investor Paul Singer, a Republican megadonor. Singer’s firm Elliott Management, which frequently invests in distressed properties, was at the fore of a bondholder group bidding for bankrupt utility giant PG&E. Stutzman also worked for Californians for Tribal Sovereignty and the Safe Gaming committee to oppose Proposition 27, a defeated statewide ballot measure that would have legalized sports gambling. State voters rejected the measure in 2022 with 82% opposed.
Stutzman was formerly a principal at government relations firm Navigators Global from 2006 – 2010, according to his LinkedIn profile. Stutzman was billed as a senior strategist with Navigators Compass, the firm’s strategic communications arm, according to an archived web page from 2016. Clients that year, featured in a case study section of their website, included Wal-Mart, Home Depot, the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers, and PhRMA.
In one case study, “Navigators was retained by Wal-Mart to provide corporate reputation counsel regarding defense from unions and media.” For Home Depot, the firm “delivered a decisive victory for Home Depot, without tarnishing its positive brand image,” the case study read. In another example, “Navigators was retained by Coalition for a Democratic Workplace (CDW) to defeat card check,” a method of recognizing a workplace’s vote to form a union. For PhRMA, according to the Navigators Compass website, “Our campaign succeeded in keeping the re-importation and generic drug provisions out of the Medicare Rx drug bill that was signed into law by President Bush in 2003.”
New Leaders 2024 did not respond to a request for comment about its leaders’ past work and their ties to the financial industry.
In Capitol Weekly, Stutzman was described as a “charter member of the ‘Never-Trump’ wing of the Republican Party.” His firm was paid $10,000 in December 2016 for PR consulting work by the anti-Trump Our Principles PAC, according to FEC records. Later, he expressed more mixed views of former President Trump. In April 2018, Stutzman told Politico, “Trump’s presidency is yielding the best of what GOP governance can produce when it comes to tax cuts and regulatory relief fueling an economy, but the chaos and his neuroses are unsustainable in the presidency. Can’t see it ending well.” A few months before, Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress had passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, a $1.5 trillion tax package that sent federal deficits soaring, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.
The new super PAC is led by Kathleen Shanahan, a Republican and a former chief of staff to Jeb Bush during his Florida governorship. Shanahan is a co-chair of electrical distribution company Turtle + Hughes, of which she had previously been co-CEO. The fiduciary services and wealth management company Adelphi lists her on the firm’s board of directors. In 2000, she served as chief of staff to Vice President-elect Dick Cheney, according to her bio.
In August 2022, Shanahan donated $1,000 to the campaign of Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott, listing as her employer Ground Works Solutions, a Florida infrastructure rehabilitation company that she led until 2016.
