The Koch brothers are trying to stake their claim on the House, fighting for the loyalty of a handful of Republicans against the unindicted co-conspirator in the White House, with whom they continue to spar. They've unveiled their list of House incumbents they intend to prop up with some of their expected $400 million in spending this cycle.
The Koch network's political arm, Americans for Prosperity, will be defending "eight men from seven states: Reps. Rod Blum and David Young of Iowa, Dave Brat of Virginia, Ted Budd of North Carolina, Steve Chabot of Ohio, Will Hurd of Texas, Erik Paulsen of Minnesota and Peter Roskam of Illinois." Of course it's all men. It's the Kochs. In a statement, AFP said that they "will fully activate its grass-roots infrastructure through phone banks and neighborhood canvassing, as well as deploy targeted digital, mail and radio advertising."
Brat's seat has been in the news of late because that's where his Democratic challenger's, Abigail Spanberger, security clearance application was improperly released to a Super PAC aligned with House Speaker Paul Ryan. A very big no-no, because this is highly sensitive personal information used for security clearance background checks and protected by the Privacy Act. Nice.
Who's not on the list? The "most vulnerable House Republicans including Reps. Barbara Comstock of Virginia and Mike Coffman of Colorado in addition to any Republicans from top House battleground states such as California, New Jersey or New York." The Kochs really don't like to lose, and definitely see the writing on the wall there. They aren't going to be carrying what they consider dead weight through this cycle.
But they're also taking Democratic challenges seriously. That's why you see Hurd's TX-23 seat on the list. The very credible Daily Kos endorsee Gina Ortiz Jones is making it competitive.
We're not going to be able to come up with the $400 million that the Kochs are spending on all these Republican men, but we sure as hell can help get more Democratic women in the House—and make Republicans widen the field they have to defend.
Donate $1 now to these Daily Kos-endorsed women who will help us win the House!
