Union Club

The Union Club will not host a group tied to the Koch Brothers' political network during the Republican National Convention after all.

(File photo )

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A central player in the Koch Brothers' political advocacy network has canceled its reservation at a high-profile downtown Cleveland venue during the upcoming Republican National Convention.

Freedom Partners, a nonprofit backed by Charles and David Koch, the conservative billionaire industrialists, had been slated to hold a convention-related event at the Union Club, an iconic, exclusive social club at 1211 Euclid Ave. But the group recently changed its plans.

The move is particularly interesting given that the Kochs, who are longtime major donors to Republican and conservative causes, do not support Donald Trump, the GOP frontrunner. The Washington Post on March 23 reported that the Koch network was considering abandoning Trump as a nominee and instead focusing its resources on behalf of GOP congressional candidates.

But an official with another Koch-backed group, while not giving a specific reason for the cancellation, said Freedom Partners still plans to have a presence at the Republican convention, scheduled in Cleveland for July 18-21.

"I think they just wanted to explore some other venues in the Cleveland area," said Colin Jackson, field director for Americans for Prosperity in Ohio.

Randy Carpenter, a spokesman for the Union Club, did not immediately respond to messages from cleveland.com.

Earlier this month, the Freedom Partners Action Fund super PAC spent nearly $2 million on TV ads attacking Ted Strickland. The ad buy came a day after Strickland, the former Ohio governor, won the Democratic primary election to challenge Republican Sen. Rob Portman.

Portman's spot is among a handful of Republican Senate seats viewed as competitive by political observers. The GOP currently holds a 10-seat majority in the Senate.