From the Washington Examiner:
The influential Koch network is open to backing Democrats in the 2020 election cycle.
A memo from Emily Seidel, the CEO of Americans for Prosperity, the Koch brothers’ political organization, said the group would “support the primary election of lawmakers, regardless of political party, who stick their necks out to lead diverse policy coalitions.”
… A top priority for the group is extending protection to Dreamers. The Trump administration announced in 2017 it was rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The program, enacted by former President Obama in 2012, protected people under the age of 18 who were brought to the U.S. illegally from deportation.
… “We know that candidates will seldom agree with Americans for Prosperity on every issue,” Seidel wrote. “But for those who do the politically difficult job of leading on a critical issue, these issue-specific PACs will make it clear why millions of Americans support them on that issue, even if they have principled disagreements on others.”
The network did not support President Trump in the 2016 election and does not plan on backing his reelection in 2020.
From Politico:
North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat, was an early test case for the Koch’s bipartisan approach to election spending during the general 2018 elections: After she voted in favor of a bill relaxing some financial regulations in the Dodd-Frank law, the network ran digital advertisements in Heitkamp’s favor. It later decided to eschew supporting Heitkamp’s Republican opponent in the race, then-Rep. Kevin Cramer, saying he was insufficiently supportive of Koch priorities like free trade — saving Heitkamp from artillery in the form of what could have been millions of dollars worth of television ads and other election spending.
It will be very interesting to see what this means for New Hampshire. For example, does it means that GOP legislators who opposed driver’s licenses for illegals will not receive support from AFP? Does it mean that legislators who are deemed too supportive of President Trump (and, therefore, insufficiently supportive of “free” (I would say unfair) trade) will be black-listed?
The ongoing enervation of the GOP State Committee has made the Party and candidates reliant -I would say overly reliant- on AFP for boots-on-the-ground and mailings. I suppose the N.H. GOP could try to walk a tightrope between supporting Trump and not alienating the Koch brothers. I would prefer that the N.H. GOP stand with the President on illegal immigration and on trade, even if that means losing AFP support.
