Mercury, a leading global, bipartisan public strategy firm, announced on Monday, January 23, 2023, that former United States Congresswoman Cheri Bustos has joined the firm as Co-Chair. As a former senior member of House leadership with a long career in both the public and private sectors, Bustos brings decades of experience in politics, journalism, healthcare, and communications to Mercury. Her long track record icludes success and accomplishments in each. Serving as the head of Mercury’s team in Illinois and Co-Chair of the Washington, D.C., office, Bustos will divide her time between operations in Chicago, and Springfield, IL, and Washington, D.C.
“I’ve spent decades solving complicated problems and working to build consensus both in and out of Government, and I am thrilled to bring that experience to one of the top bipartisan public strategy firms in America,” Bustos said. “I look forward to using my skills and experience in communications and journalism, as well as my legislative and political background, to provide strategy and value to clients across various sectors.”
While representing Illinois’ 17th Congressional District for the past 10 years, Bustos held powerful roles in leadership, serving as Co-Chair of the Steering and Policy Committee during her past term in Congress; Co-Chairing the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee for two years, playing a key role in Democrats taking the majority, and chairing the General Farm Commodities and Risk Management Subcommittee of the House Agriculture Committee. Bustos served on the House Committee on Agriculture for her full tenure in office; six years on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and four years on the House Appropriations Committee. While on the House Appropriations Committee, she served on some of the most powerful subcommittees: Defense; Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education; Energy and Water; Military Construction, and Veterans Administration.
Outside of her public service work, Bustos has helped advance the next generation of Democratic leaders, protecting the Democratic House majority in the 2020 election cycle, as Chairwoman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC.) In that role, she helped raise a record-breaking, one-third of a billion dollars for the organization. Additionally, Bustos is the founder of Build the Bench, a program focused on identifying and training individuals interested in running for office at all levels. Since its inception, the program has trained more than 400 participants, and its graduates have run for office with a greater than 50 percent success rate. Cheri is also a Founding Board Member of Elect Democratic Women, which raised close to $10 million in the 2022 Election.
“Cheri’s electoral track record and her experience in communications and journalism make her a natural fit for consulting on public strategy and achieving outcomes for our clients,” Mercury CEO Kieran Mahoney said. “Cheri has a stellar reputation and has achieved success at every step of her career….We are excited to have someone of her caliber join our leadership team in Washington and help us grow in Illinois and Nationally.”
“We are beyond thrilled to start the year by welcoming Cheri to Mercury, where she will help lead our firm in providing exceptional public strategy to clients,” Former Congressman Toby Moffett said. “As former Members of Congress, Cheri and I share a common goal, to use our experience to solve problems, build consensus, and focus on the issues that matter most to each of us….Mercury provides us with that unique opportunity.”
Prior to her decade in Washington, Bustos worked as Vice President of Corporate Communications for UnityPoint Health, the fifth-largest, nondenominational health system in America. In this role, she managed communications for a $3.2 billion health system in two states, including 20 hospitals, clinics, home care services, colleges, and a rural health network. Before that, Bustos served as a Reporter and Editor for the Quad-City Times for 17 years, covering healthcare, crime, City Hall, and the Illinois State Legislature.
In addition to co-chairing the D.C. office, Bustos will help lead Mercury’s client-relations and business growth throughout the State of Illinois and the Midwest. She joins a powerful network of leading Democrats known for their effectiveness at the firm, including Ashley Walker, the 2012 State Director for Obama for America in Florida; Jordan Kaplan, the former Chief Development Officer for the Obama Foundation; former Reps. Toby Moffett, D-CT and Joe Garcia, D-FL; recently added team members, Michael Hardaway, a former top advisor to House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-NY and Andy Vargas, longtime aide to Vice President Kamala Harris.