The CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods is quietly exploring whether to launch a third-party presidential bid after he gained national attention for banning assault-style weapons at his stores.
At least one focus group in southern Wisconsin was presented with various messages centering on Ed Stack, a longtime Republican donor, according to Politico. The group was presented with possible three-way matchups that included the billionaire businessman, President Trump, and former Vice President Joe Biden or Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Stack, who has taken a stand on gun control by eliminating the sales of assault-style rifles from his stores in the wake of the 2018 Parkland, Florida, school shooting, criticized Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell this week for failing to bring to a vote a bill that would require universal background checks for gun sales.
“I wish he’d have the guts to bring it to a vote,” Stack said.
A person who took part in the message testing said the themes around Stack were heavily focused on his “showing leadership” with the ban on sales of assault-style rifles at all Dick’s Sporting Goods stores.
The suspected gunman in the Parkland massacre bought a shotgun at Dick’s Sporting Goods two months before the shooting, though it was not used in the attack, and a majority of Dick’s locations continue to sell shotguns.
Focus group members were also asked if they’d be “open to voting for a third-party candidate.” Participants questioned whether Stack had “the charisma it would take to attract a coalition that you’d need to have a chance as a third-party candidate” and compared his age to Biden’s.
“[Focus group members] mentioned that if Biden’s getting the criticism that he looked old, Ed Stack didn’t look young either,” the focus group member said.
At 64, Stack is 12 years younger than Biden.
Stack also released a book, It’s How We Play the Game, this month — another indicator that he could be weighing a White House bid. But a person familiar with Stack’s thinking said the CEO has no intention of running for office.
“Mr. Stack enjoys running Dick’s Sporting Goods and has no plans to run for any elected office,” the person said.
