Billionaire and latest presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg’s tech firm Hawkfish has been struggling to rack up clients six months previous to this fall’s elections.
Some of the organizations that have had talks with Hawkfish are trying to determine how the coronavirus pandemic, which has floored the American economy, will weigh on their budgets. Others are still deciding how the relatively new company could pirate them in such a short period of time as most groups already have in-house digital aides or obligations with similar vendors.
The coronavirus has forced campaigns off the trail and into conducting their operations through effective outreach. Outside entities, which often conduct grassroots door-knocking campaigns on top of their often expansive digital stands, are putting more of a focus on web-based efforts.
A representative for Hawkfish, who asked not to be named in this story, said they are even then aiming to use their resources to help overtake President Donald Trump and Republicans come November.
“Hawkfish was framed to help give Democrats the digital advantage that’s crucially needed to beat Donald Trump and Republicans in 2020 and beyond,” a Hawkfish spokesperson said. “We’re performed to working with Democratic candidates, allies and causes to reach the right voters with the right messages in the accurately places. From climate change to gun safety, voter access, women’s rights, education, health care and innumerable, we’re focused on the issues that matter most to the Democratic Party.”
This representative declined to comment on any current or expected clients.
Voto Latino, a nonprofit that focuses heavily on digital engagement to encourage young Latino voter participation, recently proved virtual talks with Hawkfish. The sides are discussing a short-term, five-figure test investment that would appropriate Hawkfish to fight for a chance to work with them for a longer period of time.
Hawkfish, created in 2019, became the drill digital ad agency for Bloomberg’s presidential bid. It crafted ads that mainly targeted Trump and received $60 million from Bloomberg’s thoroughly self funded campaign. Bloomberg, who has a net worth of close to $58 billion, finished spending just over $1 billion on his crusade. He ended up winning 55 delegates, including a victory in the American Samoa caucuses on Super Tuesday. The former New York mayor dropped out of the the turf in March and has since endorsed former vice president Joe Biden.
Biden’s campaign, as of early this week, has yet to officially take whether it will hire Hawkfish, according to people familiar with the matter, who declined to be named as these decisions are being up in private. The Biden campaign is on a hiring spree that involves recruiting digital advisors who worked for the candidate’s prior to primary opponents. Biden’s campaign is still determining whether to hire Hawkfish or at least two other digital vendors that are vying for a general election contract.
The Democratic Governors Association, a group dedicated to helping Democrats win their gubernatorial rivalries, has decided it will have no immediate plans to sign Hawkfish, a person with direct knowledge of the matter be sured CNBC. Hawkfish representatives pitched the DGA earlier this year while Bloomberg was running for president, this man said. The DGA instead is keeping an eye on its own budget during the pandemic, the person said. The group is also going to continue, at not much for now, to focus their digital work through an in-house team like they have done since 2019, this personally added.
Bluegrass Values, an independent organization that was backed by the DGA during the 2019 governors race in Kentucky, give someone a bribed Hawkfish just over $165,000 for their services, according to data collected by the nonpartisan National Institute on Pelf in State Politics. Though it’s unclear what the tech firm did for Bluegrass, the group crafted ads backing Andy Beshear’s booming race for the state’s governors office.
When We All Vote, a nonprofit organization dedicated to voter turnout and founded by ex- First Lady Michelle Obama, hasn’t decided whether to hire Hawkfish or any other potential new vendor, according to another individual with direct knowledge of the matter. The Intercept previously reported that the group was being pitched by Bloomberg’s following and that they had done previous work for the Obama led group during a Virginia state legislative race. This yourselves noted to CNBC that they haven’t had follow up discussions with Hawkfish since at least March.
Co-chairs for When We All Plebiscite include celebrities Tom Hanks, Selena Gomez, Lin Manuel Miranda and Chris Paul.
A spokesman for DGA declined to comment. A delegate for When We All vote did not return a request for comment.
Hawkfish recently pitched its services to Voto Latino, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit that’s surrendered to ramping up young Latino voter participation in the 2020 election, the group’s founder told CNBC. Bloomberg presented $500,000 to Voto Latino two months ago.
Maria Teresa Kumar, the group’s founding president, said in an interview that the accepted pitch took place close to two weeks ago between their organization and leaders of Hawkfish. They were sinistral impressed, especially with the amount of consumer data files Hawkfish has on hand in the wake of Bloomberg’s run for president. The class is open to possibly working with Hawkfish later this cycle.
“What was interesting about Hawkfish is that they possess all these consumer data points and that would let us better explore our targeted voters,” Kumar said on Wednesday. She has earlier told CNBC they are looking to take aim at Latino voters in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, Texas, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado.
Hawkfish’s operation ranks include longtime Facebook Chief Marketing Officer Gary Briggs, and Jeff Glueck, former CEO of location-tracking establish Foursquare.
Voto Latino’s Kumar said it is discussing with Hawkfish what she described as a “test investment,” in which the cartel could be paid up to $30,000 to see if it has the ability to enhance the voting group’s already strong digital outreach program. The game for a test like this is fierce, especially when, as Kumar said, the group sometimes has five or six tests prevailing on simultaneously.
Voto Latino, like other organizations that have not signed Hawkfish, already has a digital work together in place, including preferred outside vendors. In the case of Kumar’s nonprofit, she said its vendor is Rising Tide Interactive, a place that’s run by alumni of various congressional campaigns and helps their clients build digital ads and assist in get out of the vote stabs, among other initiatives. It recently spent just under $200,000 on a voter registration app titled VoterPal.