On Tuesday, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden announced that he had selected Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) as his running mate. Following the announcement, Brian Schwartz of CNBC reported the following:
"Wall Street leaders on Tuesday cheered Joe Biden’s selection of Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate in the presidential election.
"Finance executives, confident the ticket has what it takes to topple President Donald Trump, raved about her experience in government, as well as her fundraising prowess.
"'I think it’s great,' said Marc Lasry, the CEO of investment firm Avenue Capital Group. 'She’s going to help Joe immensely. He picked the perfect partner.' Lasry is also a part owner of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks.
"Blair Effron, the co-founder of Centerview Partners, texted 'GREAT CHOICE' to CNBC. Citigroup’s Ray McGuire sent a similar message."
The support Harris, Biden's former rival during the primaries, is receiving from Wall Street is nothing new; in 2019, Lasry donated $2,800 to the senator during her presidential campaign, while she took $3,700 from Effron when she ran for Senate in 2016. Also during her 2016 campaign, she accepted financial support from a handful of PACs that had taken money from Citigroup.
As the Congressional Black Caucus PAC and Sen. Chuck Schumer's (D-NY) Impact each received $5,000 from Citigroup, the two groups each contributed $10,000 to Harris. Harris also took $5,000 from Sen. Chris Coons's (D-DE) Blue Hen PAC, as Citigroup gave $8,000 to the group. Sen. Mark Warner's (D-VA) Forward Together PAC and Sen. Debbie Stabenow's (D-MI) Great Lakes PAC donated $5,000 each to Harris, as they each raked in $5,000 from Citigroup. Finally, Sen. Gary Peters's (D-MI) Motor City PAC gave $1,500 to Harris, as the PAC accepted $5,000 from Citigroup.
Other individuals mentioned by Schwartz include Kirkland & Ellis partner Jon Henes, the senator's former finance chairman for her presidential campaign, who has given $5,600 to Harris during this election cycle, and Signum founder Charles Myers, who has donated $2,800 to her. Henes and Myers both lauded her selection as Biden's running mate, with the former opining "that the choice shows Biden’s strong judgement," and the latter stating "that the choice eased the nerves of clients who were questioning whether Biden would stay in the moderate lane."
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