Koch brothers' political network promises to raise and spend more money in 2018 races

Fredreka Schouten | USA TODAY

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The vast policy and political network aligned with billionaire Charles Koch is ramping up for its most expensive round of political and policy fights yet — as it works to expand the Republican majority in the Senate, pushes Congress to approve President Trump’s tax cuts and promotes measures across the country to curb organized labor.

Although 10 Democratic senators are on the ballot next year in states won by Trump, Republicans face a “reinvigorated progressive left” that will make Senate election battles more difficult, Emily Seidel, who oversees the network’s political operations, told donors on Sunday.

Democratic “activists are engaged and their donors are giving at unprecedented levels,” she said.

The conservative network also plans to spend heavily on governors’ races in the next two years when Republicans are defending 27 of the 38 seats on the ballot.

“You have to invest in governors because we are getting things done in states,” Missouri’s Republican Gov. Eric Greitens told the 400 conservative contributors who assembled at a luxury resort here for a three-day private retreat.

“We are able to drive tremendous change,” Greitens said, touting recent passage of laws in his state to rein in unions. Missouri joined Kentucky this year in passing so-called right-to-work laws, which ban unions from collecting mandatory dues from employees. In all, new six states have passed similar laws since 2012, and the group hope to push similar measures in Ohio and New Hampshire next year.

“These have been the biggest policy advances in a generation,” said Tim Phillips, who heads the network’s grassroots arm. “There are so many states that have advanced good policy in recent years, and we have to protect these policy victories.”

His comments came as network officials huddled Sunday with donors to discuss their strategy ahead of the 2018 midterm elections. The network plans to spend $300 million to $400 million over a two-year period, an increase from the $250 million it spent in the 2016 election cycle.

Among the group’s priorities:

• Pushing for across-the-board tax cuts advanced by Trump. The network already has spent $1 million to push the plan, the first part of a multimillion-dollar campaign to pressure congressional lawmakers to support a tax overhaul. Its advertising will target 52 lawmakers.

• Building support for Trump’s conservative judicial nominees. Concerned Veterans for America, one of the network’s grassroots arms, is running ads targeting three Senate Democrats on the ballot next year: Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan. The ads seeks to pressure the incumbents to support three of Trump’s appeals court nominees.

• Changing federal civil-service rules to make it easier to fire federal employees. The network officials helped push a bill signed into law Friday by Trump, reducing hurdles to firing problem employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Network officials say they consider that a template for bills targeting other agencies.

"There’s too much bureaucracy, and it makes it impossible to fire bad employees in the federal government,” said Rebecca Coffman, a spokeswoman for Concerned Veterans.

The stakes are high in governors’ races. The governors elected in 2018 will be in office when congressional and legislative boundaries are redrawn following the 2020 Census.

Republicans now dominate state government, controlling 33 governors’ mansions and both legislative chambers in 32 states.

The Koch network is among the most influential in conservative politics. It has staff in 36 states and counts a standing army of more than 3 million activists that it deploys in policy and election fights.



Brian Hooks, a top Koch lieutenant who helps run the network, said the group also planned new investments in other key priorities including promoting “free-speech” on college campuses and advancing school choice at the K-12 level.

The network allows reporters to attend its retreats but imposes restrictions on photography and identifying donors. Some sessions are closed to journalists.