Kochs Signal Support for Scott Walker
Kochs Signal Support for Scott Walker
Charles G. and David H. Koch, the influential and big-spending conservative donors, have a favorite in the race for the Republican nomination: Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin.
On Monday, at a fund-raising event in Manhattan for the New York State Republican Party, David Koch told donors that he and his brother, who oversee one of the biggest private political organizations in the country, believed that Mr. Walker was the Republican Party’s best hope for recapturing the White House.
“We will support whoever the candidate is,” said Mr. Koch, according to two people who attended the event. “But it should be Scott Walker.”
The remark — made before dozens of top New York donors who had gathered to hear Mr. Walker speak at the Union League Club — could effectively end one of the most closely watched contests in the “invisible primary,” a period where candidates crisscross the country seeking not the support of voters but the blessing of their party’s biggest donors and fund-raisers.
Most of the leading Republican candidates have aggressively courted the Kochs, who control a network of political nonprofits, “super PACs” and hundreds of like-minded donors, all of which are planning to spend almost $900 million over the next two years advancing conservative candidates and policies.
But while the Kochs are influential among their peers, it is unclear whether they will favor Mr. Walker with more than good will.
In his remarks, made after Mr. Walker had addressed the group, Mr. Koch suggested that the political organizations they oversee — which include Americans for Prosperity, a grass-roots organization, and Freedom Partners, a donor trade group with an affiliated super PAC — would not intervene in the Republican primary process on behalf of a single candidate.
But according to the two attendees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely describe the remarks, Mr. Koch indicated that the Koch family might personally offer financial support to Mr. Walker.
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/firs...T.nav=top-news
Kochs May Back Five GOP Presidential Candidates
Tuesday, April 21, 2015 07:33 PM
By: Greg Richter
One day after billionaire businessman and Republican mega-donor David Koch lauded Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, his brother Charles Koch said the brothers' network might back several GOP presidential hopefuls.
The Kochs have settled on five candidates they think have a good message and "a good chance of getting elected," Charles Koch told USA Today.
The five are Walker; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; and Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Marco Rubio of Florida.
"What we've told them all is that right now, we're not supporting anyone," Koch told USA Today. "We're telling them that if they want our support, one way to get it is articulating a good message to help Americans get a better understanding and a better appreciation of how certain policies … will benefit them and will benefit all America."
The Kochs would select one over the others only if someone stands out with a message detailing what he would do to benefit America and has a legitimate chance of being elected, Koch said.
But even then there is no guarantee they would select a single candidate to back monetarily, he added.
"We may give several of them some money to get this positive message out," he said.
"What we expect them to do is to compete on who has a more positive message for America, rather than what's wrong with some other candidate and did he smoke pot when he was 15 or whatever."
Charles Koch's comments came after The New York Times reported that his brother David told a group of donors in Manhattan on Monday, "We will support whoever the candidate is, but it should be Scott Walker."
In a statement sent to Newsmax on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the brothers said they have not yet supported any candidate.
"While I think Governor Walker is terrific, let me be clear, I am not endorsing or supporting any candidate for president at this point in time," David Koch said in the statement.
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Koc.../21/id/639924/