The Koch Brothers aren’t backing down from the midterms this year. They’re donating a HUGE amount to the right-wing effort to defeat democrats.
The network backed by Charles and David Koch realizes 2018 will be a challenging environment — and they’re going “all in” to defend their policy priorities and candidates who support them, to the likely tune of roughly $400 million. That would be likely the largest investment the Koch network — the affiliated groups backed by the brothers and donors — has ever had in a midterm election, and significantly more than the roughly $250 million they spent during the 2016 presidential cycle.
Last summer, the Koch brothers’ political network projected it would spend $300 to $400 million on politics and policy in the election, but now, spending will be on the “high end” of that.
That’s pretty yuge because they aren’t big Trump fans, being more libertarian. They clearly don’t see a big problem with the direction the GOP is heading, OR they want to hijack it and turn towards their goals.
Leaders in the Koch network on Saturday were hesitant to share what specific requirements they might have for backing candidates, on immigration or any other policy area. The Seminar Network on Saturday issued a statement Saturday supporting the White House’s proposal for a path to citizenship for young immigrants, but expressed concern over the proposal to end extended family-based migration.
“If you’re not a champion, it’s going to be hard to support you,” said James Davis, president of In Pursuit Of, the relatively new public relations arm affiliated with the Koch network.
Well that’ll be interesting to watch – I think we’ll see an upswing in support for Trump, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be enough to overcome the built-in advantage Dems have this year.
Have an open thread my friends. Enjoy!!!