Press

President Biden’s reelection campaign is making a play for Florida, hoping to steal a state that has been moving toward the GOP — and has become the new home state for former President Trump — away from Republicans in November.

Winning back the Sunshine State will be an uphill battle, but Biden’s campaign thinks the issue of abortion, which will be on the ballot thanks to a restrictive new state law, can give the president and other Democrats a boost.

ROKK Senior Vice President John LaBombard spoke with The Hill about Biden’s decision to leverage the latest restrictive abortion legislation to win votes in Florida.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s rising profile is raising the question of whether he could appear on a debate stage with President Biden and Donald Trump — and what impact that could have on the presidential race.

It’s not yet clear if Kennedy, who has seen scattered polling throughout his candidacy, will even be able to qualify for a televised forum, as the independent candidate has also yet to collect enough signatures for most state ballots.

Kristen Hawn, Democratic Strategist and Partner at ROKK Solutions, spoke with The Hill about why Biden may have the edge over his rivals in the 2024 Presidential race.  

Comms leaders from the private sector joined Axios at a reception event for conversations about how they are navigating AI and engaging in politicized cultural issues in a high-stakes election year.

Why it matters: Corporate communicators are the first to respond to political, economic and cultural crises on behalf of a company, and the stakes of doing so have never been higher in a contentious election year that will be defined by the rise of AI.

Co-Founder and Partner Ron Bonjean was in conversation with Sabastian V. Niles, Salesforce president and chief legal officer, discussing the importance of deliberate engagement on social issues. Read the full conversation here.

At an event in Washington, D.C., alongside the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, more than 100 Axios Communicators readers gathered to discuss managing corporate reputation during an election year.

Why it matters: In times of uncertainty, polarization or transition, employees require more communication, not less.

ROKK Co-Founder and Partner Ron Bonjean spoke at the event about how the risks businesses face if they weigh in on issues that do not directly tie to their business objectives or corporate values.

ROKK Solutions Partner and Democratic strategist Kristen Hawn and the Vogel Group Principal Matt Keelen joins ‘Fox News Live’ to discuss President Biden saying he is ‘happy to debate’ former President Trump. Watch the replay.

On Indivisible’s website, the first words you’ll find—in large font and all caps—are “Defeat MAGA. Save democracy.” The progressive organizing group, formed shortly after Donald Trump’s 2016 win, sees the stakes of this fall’s presidential election as enormous, even existential. Yet when it deploys more than 2,000 volunteers to canvass neighborhoods in Arizona over the next seven months, the presidential race is the last topic it plans to bring up.

“We’re not going to be knocking on doors trying to convince people to vote for Joe Biden,” Indivisible’s co-founder Ezra Levin told me. Instead, its volunteers will be trying to turn out voters for just about every other Democrat on the ballot—including the party’s nominees for U.S. Senate and House seats and its candidates for the Republican-controlled state legislature—as well as a referendum that could restore abortion rights in Arizona.

ROKK Senior Vice President John LaBombard spoke to The Atlantic about whether Democrats’ tactic will work this election season. 

Democrats met with pro-Palestinian protesters have had an array of responses to the interruptions — from yelling back to attempting to connect them to Russia. 

But President Biden, who has faced a host of cease-fire supporters across the country, has been markedly more sympathetic. Even though they wholly disagree with his Israel policy, he often sides with the protesters’ sentiments, urging event security to let them be before being escorted away.

ROKK Senior Vice President John LaBombard spoke with The Hill about how Biden’s reaction to recent protesters seems to be authentically him.

Infighting among Republicans who control the U.S. House of Representatives, and a threat to oust Speaker Mike Johnson from his leadership role, have put him under pressure to further delay action on a long-sought aid bill for Ukraine, Israel and other key allies.

With Kyiv running short of munitions as it fights off a Russian invasion, its Republican allies in Washington hope to see Johnson unveil an aid package that can move swiftly through the House and the Democratic-led Senate, and onto Democratic President Joe Biden’s desk soon after lawmakers reconvene on Tuesday following a two-week break.

ROKK Co-Founder and Partner Ron Bonjean offered his prediction on when House-Senate passage of Ukraine funding will happen in this piece by Reuters. Read the full article here

President Biden’s campaign is doubling down on courting former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s supporters, targeting a potential weak spot for former President Trump going into the general election.

Haley’s supporters and Trump’s critics have pointed to the 40 percent of the vote she won in the South Carolina primary as evidence of cracks in Trump’s Republican base of support. 

John LaBombard, ROKK SVP and long-time advisor of swing- and red-state Democrats, spoke with The Hill about how Biden can win over Haley’s supporters.

Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota, is readying for her national close-up. How else to interpret her recent controversial trip to Texas to “fix” her smile, documented in a lengthy video?

You know, the one she posted on X, Facebook and Instagram, singing the praises of Smile Texas, the cosmetic dental clinic that remedied what she said had been a problem incurred long ago in an accident while bicycling with her children. The one that chronicled her journey to, she said, “a smile that I can be proud of and confident in.”

ROKK Co-Founder and Partner Ron Bonjean spoke to The New York Times about what being in Trump’s circle has meant for Kristi Noem.