1 year ago
The force behind Kevin McCarthy’s fundraising operation is moving to support the House GOP’s new Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), an early sign of some unity among the GOP amid weeks of fractured chaos in the House.
Jeff Miller, a top fundraiser, adviser and a longtime pal of McCarthy, will begin fundraising for Johnson’s camp, he said. As the new speaker takes the helm of the House GOP, he also assumes responsibility for the party’s House fundraising operation, the resources behind maintaining the slim GOP majority in a heavily fought presidential election season. Johnson, far from a prolific fundraiser, raised just about half a million dollars since the start of 2023.
“Throughout my career I have raised money for Republicans as a volunteer, and I intend to continue to do so,” Miller said in a statement to POLITICO. “I will absolutely help the new Speaker raise the resources to grow our majority in the House. Nothing is more important than electing more Republicans to the House of Representatives.”
Republican lobbyists told POLITICO that Johnson was largely an unknown entity on K Street, without the inner circle of longtime Republican leadership like McCarthy or onetime speaker hopeful Steve Scalise (R-La.)
But his selection on Wednesday also ushered in a mad dash of K Street denizens elbowing to get close to the new speaker. Before the vote, one Republican on K Street said they were about to start making calls to plan one of Johnson’s first fundraisers as speaker.
Caitlin Oprysko and Jessica Piper contributed to this report.
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