President Donald Trump hugs Senate candidate Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) during a campaign rally in Fargo, N.D. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo Koch network snubs key GOP Senate candidate

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The powerful Koch political network won’t help the Republican nominee in a crucial Senate race less than 100 days before the midterm elections, saying Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) doesn’t do enough to further the Koch’s policy issues to warrant their help.

And as the Koch network pushes Republicans to not take its support for granted, the network has quietly taken other steps to withhold its support from Senate candidates it sees as out-of-line with its views, despite the party's push to maintain or expand its majority this fall.


Cramer was the first Republican Senate candidate to be publicly jettisoned by the powerful Koch network this cycle. But during a private briefing over the weekend, donors were given a hand-out that indicated the network is also currently not supporting Senate candidates in two other key states — Indiana and Nevada — according to a photo of the document obtained by POLITICO.

Cramer is challenging Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) in a must-win contest that could decide the balance of power in the Senate during the next Congress. In pushing him aside, Koch officials were clear to the donors that they are sending a message: Republicans in Congress should not take their support for granted.

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Standing in front of a 20-foot high photo of Cramer projected on a screen, Americans for Prosperity president Tim Phillips told hundreds of top conservative donors that Cramer is “inconsistent” on a range of other issues that are key to the Koch network, such as reducing government spending and supporting free trade.

“We can’t support him at this time. And to be clear, we’ve met with his team, explained this, and lobbied him on this to change their ways,” Phillips said.

“There are risks involved any time you take a stand,” said Emily Seidel, CEO of Americans for Prosperity. “Why would Cramer or any other Republican feel like they need to listen to this network if they know we’ll support them anyway?”

Not everyone here at the Koch network's biannual confab agrees: Dan K. Eberhart, an attendee at the event who is also the fundraising vice chairman for Cramer's campaign, said that "Kevin Cramer is an excellent public servant who looks out for North Dakota."

"This proves he isn’t bought," Eberhart added.

Cramer's campaign shrugged off the snub. "As I have always said, I work for the people of North Dakota and will always vote with them in mind," Cramer said in a statement. "My voting record may not be exactly what every national organization wants, but it is exactly what the majority of North Dakotans expect."

The Koch network has passed over supporting some moderate Republican candidates in the past. During the 2016 elections, for example, then-Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) did not receive support from the Koch network during her reelection bid. (Ayotte was narrowly defeated that November by Democrat Maggie Hassan.)

But this year, Cramer is not the only Republican candidate the Koch network is considering leaving behind. The network is currently only active in four Senate races, a network official said Monday: Wisconsin, Missouri, Tennessee and Florida.

And during the weekend retreat held in Colorado Springs, donors briefed on the network's plans were given a handout on candidates the network is supporting that omitted three Republican senate candidates in particular from its list: Cramer, Indiana Senate nominee Mike Braun and incumbent Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.).

Braun, a businessman, is challenging Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly — an incumbent the Koch network originally announced in January as one of its top targets for the midterm elections. But the Koch network is not currently doing any door-to-door work or airing television ads in the Indiana Senate race, an unusual pull-back.

In Nevada, the Koch network is helping state Attorney General Adam Laxalt in his gubernatorial bid — but not Heller, who was the subject of criticism from Phillips about his stance on health care and a vote in favor of a spending bill opposed by the Koch network in the Las Vegas Review-Journal in April. Heller is among the most moderate Republicans in the Senate and one of the most endangered senators from either party running for reelection.

In such races, the Koch network can offer its favored candidates not just millions of dollars in television advertising — but also paid staff and volunteers who knock doors and work year-round to identify swing voters and turn them out for elections.

At this weekend's summit, Seidel told the donors about a Republican senator who told his colleagues to not “worry about the Kochs” during a caucus meeting as the senators debated legislation. “By ‘Kochs,’ he was talking about all of you,” Seidel said. “We can’t just keep falling into the trap of doing what we need to do to get through November.”

Phillips did hint that the door might be open for Cramer, if he were willing to change his policy platform, however: “Give Kevin Cramer a call — urge him to step up and lead.”



CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this report misrepresented the Koch network's involvement in the Indiana Senate race. The Koch network is doing issue advocacy, such as promoting the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, in the state but is not directly involved in the election.

CORRECTION: Correction: A previous version of this report misidentified Dan K. Eberhart. He has attended Koch network events but has not contributed money to Koch groups.