He and his brother David, both longtime conservative megadonors, skipped the GOP convention, but at the meeting Charles Koch laid out their organization’s plans for political activism in support of the right, including pushing for state-level reforms and investing in education and communityorganizations. Politico cited unnamed Republicans with knowledge of the outreach.
Advertisement
“Based on that, we’re focused on the Senate”, Holden said, noting that the Koch network has devoted around $42 million so far to television and digital advertising to benefit Republican Senate candidates.
The Utah senator Mike Lee, like the Kentucky governor, Matt Bevin, and the Arizona governor, Doug Ducey, avoided discussion of the presidential election during panel discussions.
The decision was welcomed by numerous 400 donors who attended the weekend retreat, even though “a reasonably significant” number of attendees wanted the Koch network to support Trump, said Chris Wright, a Colorado-based energy entrepreneur.
Some Koch donors, upset by the leadership’s unwillingness to back the Republican nominee, have called for the Freedom Partners retreat to feature a poll to decide whether to marshal their resources toward his White House bid.
The Koch network initially said they would spend $889 million in the lead-up to 2016, with about one-third of that figure dedicated to political activity.
The weekend’s theme is “A Brighter Future: Reversing America’s Decline, Opening Opportunity for All”, staff said.
The Koch brothers have never been known to support a Democrat for president in their political donor history. “Mike Pence is a great guy”.
Freedom Partners members, many of whom are owners of private companies, pay a minimum of $100,000 to join the network.
None of the presidential candidates are aligned with the Koch network “from a values, and beliefs and policy perspective”, Holden said, citing other determining factors such as “running a good campaign” and talking about key issues “in a positive productive way”.
The Kochs’ super-PAC, Freedom Partners Action Fund, has already spent $14.4 million in five of those states, nearly all of it attacking Democratic candidates, according the Federal Election Commission records.
Beyond Nevada, Ohio and Pennsylvania, the Koch network is also targeting Senate contests in Florida, Wisconsin and Indiana.
The ambitious Koch network has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to influence politics and public policy over the last decade.
Koch has been a staunch critic of both United States presidential candidates. It’s been reported that the group would spend $889 million between past year and this one, but that was “a wish list number”, Holden said. But it’s what he said about Republican nominee Donald Trump that came as a shock.
Advertisement
Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal.
