PAC brings on aide to defend House

Congressional super PAC brings on Romney aide to defend House

By Alex Isenstadt

A congressional Republican super PAC has tapped Mason Fink, former senior adviser to Mitt Romney, to help spearhead its fundraising efforts – a move that comes amid mounting concern within the GOP that a Donald Trump or Ted Cruz nomination would paralyze the party in down-ballot races.

Fink, who was Romney’s 2008 and 2012 finance director and oversaw fundraising for the pro-Jeb Bush Right to Rise super PAC, will serve on the board of the Congressional Leadership Fund, a group devoted to protecting and expanding the House Republican majority.

While Republicans are favored to retain their majority, many of the party’s top donors and operatives have grown worried that, with Trump or Cruz likely to lead the ticket, they will sustain losses. At last week’s Republican National Committee spring meeting, some party strategists privately speculated that major contributors, turned off by the prospective nominees, would shift their attention to House and Senate races.

In recent weeks, Fink was personally approached by House Speaker Paul Ryan to take the job, according to one source briefed on the outreach. The two forged a friendship during the 2012 campaign, when Ryan served as Romney’s vice presidential nominee.

Fink isn’t the first Romney confidant to join the pro-House Republican campaign team. After being named speaker last year, Ryan tapped another former Romney aide, Spencer Zwick, to help guide his fundraising operation.

"Speaker Ryan got to know Mason very well during the 2012 campaign and thinks highly of him,” Kevin Seifert, a Ryan spokesman, wrote in an email. “The Congressional Leadership Fund surely will benefit from his judgment and experience as they work to help defend and expand the House Republican majority.”

Mike Shields, CLF's president, described Fink as "a very well-respected operative who understands the big picture of national politics. Investors know that when they join an effort with Mason it will be a financial success.

For now, the GOP-friendly group trails in fundraising. While Congressional Leadership Fund has $1.9 million on hand, its Democratic counterpart, House Majority PAC, has over $9 million.