McCarthy Hennings

McCarthy Hennings Media Inc. is a small Washington D.C. Based Advertising agency run by Larry McCarthy, a former press secretary for Indiana Congressman John Heinz. McCarthy Hennings does business with most of the major outside spending groups on the Right, including Crossroads GPS, Americans for Prosperity, Americans for Job Security, and Restore our Future. McCarthy himself has been creating ads since 1988, when he designed the infamous "Willie Horton" ad campaign that may have destroyed the presidential campaign of Michael Dukakis.

Influencing the 2012 Election
McCarthy Hennings Media was a major vendor for outside spending groups in the 2012 election. Most of their business came from designing ads for outside spending groups. They collaborated closely with Mentzer Media Services, another conservative advertising agency, which purchased air time for the ads. McCarthy-Hennings' best customer in 2012 was the Pro-Romney superPAC Restore Our Future. McCarthy Hennings received more than $1 million from Restore our Future in 2012, as well as $263,000 from American Crossroads, $324,000 from Crossroads GPS and $70,000 from Americans for Job Security.

Larry McCarthy
Larry McCarthy has closed ties to both Mitt Romney and his superPAC, Restore our Future. McCarthy worked as the Media Director for Romney's 2008 campaign, in the 2012 Election, the same year his company was contracting with Restore Our Future, McCarthy served on the board of the SuperPAC. McCarthy has a long history of working with outside spending groups that further the interest of a particular presidential campaign. His prior work experience includes directing the ad campaigns of Americans For Bush, the political group that ran the most vicious "Willie Horton" ads in the 1988 presidential campaign against Michael Dukakis. From 1981 to 1987, he worked for Ailes Communication, a New York-based media company run by Fox News president Roger Ailes. There he served as a strategist for several campaigns, including Senators Phil Gramm, Warren Rudman, Dan Quayle, Bob Kasten, Mitch McConnell, Gordon Humphrey and Dave Durenberger, plus Governors George Deukmejian and Tom Kean.