McConnell Recruit Tim Sheehy Faces “Wrinkle” to MT-SEN Run: Transparency Laws
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, April 27, 2023
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monica@mtdems.org
Daily Beast: “For some ultra-rich Senate hopefuls, their first PFD [...] could get uncomfortable fast.”
Helena, MT – New reporting from Daily Beast today highlights how McConnell recruit Tim Sheehy faces a wrinkle to his potential U.S. Senate run: transparency laws.
Read more:
Daily Beast: The Senate GOP Has a 2024 Candidate Strategy. Will Sunshine Laws Ruin It?
By Matt Fuller, Sam Brodey, Jake Lahut
The Senate GOP’s campaign arm seems to have stumbled upon a novel strategy this cycle: recruit rich candidates who will pour their fortunes into their own campaigns.
But there’s one wrinkle to that gambit—and it may dampen Republican hopes to enlist the ultra-wealthy, self-funding candidates they want: financial disclosure laws.
Politico recently reported that “at least 10 candidates with sizable net worth are seriously considering self-funded Senate campaigns in more than a half-dozen swing states—many of them at the behest of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.”
The crop of potential self-funding candidates includes Montana’s Tim Sheehy, a former Navy SEAL and CEO of Bridger Aerospace[.]
For most people, these requirements aren’t too onerous. They may have a couple bank accounts, a 401K, maybe even a few stocks or a rental property. But for the ultra-wealthy individuals that the Senate GOP is trying to recruit, things are much more complicated.
For some ultra-rich Senate hopefuls, their first PFD would offer the clearest-ever glimpse of their complicated finances. That could get uncomfortable fast.
It’s possible some candidates might glance at the stiff requirements—and recent political history—and find reason to opt out of running altogether.
But the point is, these candidates’ finances could be revealed as extraordinarily messy—and fuel a number of unflattering stories.
In Montana, Sheehy has defended the “Environmental, Social and Governance” concept—a criteria that some investors use to decide where to put their money. But Republicans writ large have made a sport out of going after “ESG” as a symptom of an overly woke corporate America. Sheehy may find it difficult to explain away his position, as well as the $160 million in ESG bonds his company took last year.
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