Former Senators Among Those Seen in Contention for CTIA Presidency
CTIA appears to be narrowing its search to a few candidates to replace Steve Largent as president when he leaves the association later this year. The search is being led by executive headhunter firm Korn Ferry, said industry officials. They said the firm has been interviewing stakeholders and preparing documents on the qualities needed in a new president, which has already been presented to a search committee of CTIA members, chaired by Dan Mead, CEO of Verizon Wireless. Largent said in October he was stepping down and wouldn’t seek an extension of his current contract that expires at year’s end (CD Oct 28 p5) (http://bit.ly/1aIVjxN).
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Among the candidates, CTIA members told us, is former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., who was in the Senate from 1987 to 2005, when he lost his seat to Sen. John Thune, R-S.D. Also on the list is John Sununu, a Republican and one-term member of the Senate from New Hampshire, who was defeated for reelection in 2008 by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and former House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., who was defeated for reelection in 2010 after being in the House since 1983. Sununu was in the House for three terms before being elected as the youngest member of the Senate. Daschle was in the House from 1979 to 1987.
Several former government officials also appear to be in the running, industry sources said. Among them are former FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell, who left the commission last year, and former Commissioner Meredith Baker, who left the FCC in 2011 to take a position with Comcast. Both are Republicans. Also said to be in the running is Michael Gallagher, a Republican and former administrator of NTIA, who has been president of the Entertainment Software Association since 2007. Some at CTIA want to see a Democrat appointed to replace Largent, a Republican, several carrier officials said. Largent’s predecessor was current FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. Daschle, 66, and Boucher, 67, are the oldest among the candidates. None would comment. CTIA also was not commenting Tuesday.
The members of the search committee include Mead, executives from AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile US, as well as smaller carriers Cellcom and Blue Ridge and equipment maker Ericsson, industry officials said. Korn Ferry’s goal appears to be to present the search committee with a list of candidates for interview in the February timeframe, with a decision to follow shortly after.
Largent, 59, was a Republican member of the House who left in 2002 and subsequently lost a close race for governor of Oklahoma. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and was longtime wide receiver for the new NFC champion Seattle Seahawks.