THE HILL: Tester Hands Democrats 2024 boost with Tough Road Ahead

Democrats got a shot in the arm with Sen. Jon Tester’s (D-Mont.) decision to seek reelection. His announcement hands Democrats a real chance at retaining a seat in GOP territory and puts them on “Joe Manchin watch” as the West Virginia Democratic senator weighs his own future in a ruby-red state. Tester is the first significant domino to fall for Democrats, who are nervous about maintaining their one-seat majority. 

ROKK co-founder and partner Rodell Mollineau discussed how this decision by Tester gives Democrats the best opportunity to hold onto the U.S. Senate. Read the full story here.

Washington, D.C. – ROKK Solutions, a bipartisan public affairs firm at the nexus of policy, politics and communications, announced today that Elizabeth Northrup will join the firm as its first agency-wide Chief Client Officer.

Northrup brings more than 25 years of experience at the intersection of public affairs, reputation management, executive visibility and brand awareness. She complements the firm’s existing leadership with experience helping companies, associations and organizations operate in an increasingly complex political and regulatory climate.

“Elizabeth is a leading public affairs professional, with a track record of taking on some of the most complex political, regulatory and reputational issues of our age,” said Rodell Mollineau, ROKK Solutions partner and co-founder. “She is a proven steady-hand when it comes to crisis communications and issue advocacy, and I look forward to sharing her expertise with our clients.”

Prior to joining ROKK, Northrup spent much of her career as a communications counselor at several large multinational communications firms. Most recently, Northrup served as Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs at BCW Global.

Previously, she served as Managing Director of Communications and Public Affairs at Signal Group (formerly McBee Strategic) and Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Chief of Staff to the Vice Chairman at Hill+Knowlton Strategies. She also held in-house public affairs positions at industry trade associations including the American Insurance Association and American Chemistry Council.

“As Chief Client Officer, it will be my job to have a view into all of ROKK’s client work and serve as a senior counselor to clients and team members alike,” said Northrup. “I’m passionate about providing exceptional client service, and I’m excited to bring my years of experience to ROKK Solutions as the firm continues to grow.”

Ron Bonjean, partner and co-founder of ROKK Solutions, noted that Northrup’s background and experience is essential for leading the agency’s growing client portfolio. “ROKK Solutions has experienced tremendous, year-after-year growth. We are thrilled to welcome someone into our new Chief Client Officer role who has such stellar public affairs subject matter and agency leadership experience.”

“It’s not everyday that you meet someone like Elizabeth, who so fully embodies the values that we share,” said Kristen Hawn, partner at ROKK Solutions. “Elizabeth’s wealth of knowledge, beltway connections and commitment to first rate client services will make her an asset to our team.”

Northrup’s hiring is another step in ROKK Solutions strategic expansion, which over the past two years has resulted in triple-digit growth and a variety of professional accolades including: PRovoke Agency of the Year finalist, The Reeds Agency of the Year finalist, SABRE awards finalists, inclusion in the Agency Elite 100 list, a Platinum dotCOMM award, an Innovation SABRE award, and most recently a Hermes Gold award. With a 360-degree integrated suite of capabilities including digital and paid media and a creative studio, ROKK is a sought-after agency for Fortune 100 organizations, nonprofits and associations looking to create change in Washington.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s decision to grant Fox News host Tucker Carlson exclusive access to thousands of hours of security footage from inside the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack was his latest move to appease the right wing of his party, this time by effectively outsourcing a bid to reinvestigate the riot to its favorite cable news commentator, who has circulated conspiracy theories about the assault.

The most conservative Republican members of Congress — many of whom have worked to downplay or deny the reality of the Jan. 6 attack — have been pushing Mr. McCarthy for weeks to release the video after he promised to do so during his campaign for speaker.

ROKK Solutions co-founder and partner Ron Bonjean discussed how this move helps McCarthy solidify his speakership among the right. Get the full story in The New York Times, here.

White House aides are weighing whether to have President Biden address the public about a series of unidentified flying objects that were shot down by the U.S. military in early February 2023. Biden has faced an onslaught of criticisms by Republicans in particular who have said the president needs to be more communicative with the public about the issue, particularly after three separate unknown aerial objects were shot down three days in a row.

ROKK co-founder and partner Rodell Mollineau spoke on this topic and said he understands the calculus of not putting Biden out there on the issue yet. Get the full story here.

Former Vice President Mike Pence is preparing to challenge a subpoena issued by the special prosecutor investigating former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, kicking off a novel legal fight that could take months for courts to resolve.

Mr. Pence will fight the subpoena on the grounds that the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause shields him from testifying. The Speech or Debate Clause generally protects members of Congress from being questioned in court about their legislative acts. In the U.S. constitutional system, the vice president is also the president of the Senate.

ROKK Solutions co-founder and partner Ron Bonjean discussed how as a political matter, Mr. Pence’s defiance of the subpoena will be supported by Republican Party primary voters should he decide to run for president in 2024. Get the full story in The Wall Street Journal, here.

Vivek Ramaswamy—the multimillion-dollar biotech investor and so-called “CEO of Anti-Woke Inc.”—traveled to Iowa to hawk his platform and test the waters of the viability of a 2024 presidential bid with heartland voters. His trip was steeped in the type of rhetoric that dripped with grievance toward the dangers of “wokeism” and the broad banner of environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing that he helped bring to a place of prominence in the vernacular of insider conservative politics.

Though topics like ESG have become common fare on pundit-dominated panels and the timelines of the extremely online, relatively few investors have actively heard of the term, making the public’s understanding even less likely.

In fact, a survey by ROKK Solutions with a team of researchers from Penn State University found that a majority of Republican voters (56%) felt there should not be government oversight over investor strategies because they felt companies should be able to make ESG decisions without government interference.

Get more on this in Newsweek and don’t forget to check out ROKK’s full ESG report, “Navigating ESG in the New Congress,” here.

ROKK Solutions Partner Kristen Hawn and Former NRCC communications director Matt Gorman discuss the response to objects in U.S. airspace, various House hearings and GOP presidential candidates on ‘Fox News Live.’ Watch the replay here.

Wyoming’s rugged terrain is almost a nation away, geographically and culturally, from the suburbs and swamps of Florida.

But as Wyoming lawmakers meet for the legislative session, the influence of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is looming large over the state Capitol in Cheyenne.

ROKK Senior Vice President James Nash shares his thoughts in this article that analyzes how GOP state lawmakers across the nation are paying close attention to actions in the Florida statehouse. Read the article here.

In Bloomberg’s “Sound On,” Bloomberg Washington Correspondent Joe Mathieu delivers insight and analysis on the latest headlines from the White House and Capitol Hill, including conversations with influential lawmakers and key figures in politics and policy.

On the politics panel in this episode, ROKK Senior Vice President John Labombard and Bloomberg Politics Contributor Rick Davis sat down to discuss January’s surprise jobs report, the Chinese spy balloon, US relations with China, and what to expect from Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s response to President Biden’s SOTU address. Listen to the episode here.

In 2018, when she was still a member of the Democratic Party, Kyrsten Sinema ran her Senate campaign as a self-described “Arizona Independent,” a distinction that helped her become the first Democrat to win the seat in three decades.

There are several questions to be answered heading into next year’s election: how much former President Trump will influence the Republican primary, and what role, if any, Sinema will play in a potential three-person race. But the biggest question may be how purple is Arizona?

ROKK Senior Vice President John Labombard discussed how Simena would be able to contrast herself with “extremes” on either side of her politically, with the Los Angeles Times. Get the full story here.