Are Koch brothers ditching Frank Guinta for Pam Tucker in 1st District race?
A DC-area consulting firm backed by the Koch brothers network is helping Republican state Rep. Pam Tucker raise money for her exploratory campaign to challenge Congressman Frank Guinta in the state’s 1st congressional district.
Tucker is one of five potential candidates for the U.S. House featured on the AegisPAC website, a political action committee affiliated with Aegis Strategic, which has deep ties to the Koch brothers. The group lauds Tucker as a “fresh, conservative voice” and a “leading voice for liberty.”
Mother Jones reported Aegis Strategic was formed in 2013 after donors and activists in the Koch network expressed widespread frustration over the quality of Republican Party candidates in 2012. Aegis is led by Jeff Crank, who ran the Colorado chapter of Americans for Prosperity and served as the AFP’s chief operating officer. Karl Crow, the group’s lead strategist, was a project coordinator for the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation.
Tucker met with Aegis in September, Politico reports, and was introduced to Koch-affiliated groups including Mercatus Center, the libertarian think tank at George Mason University. Tucker acknowledged meeting with Aegis but told Politico she has not hired them to manage her campaign and will not base her decision on the group’s connections to the Koch network.
Tucker is a conservative four-term representative from Greenland. She served as deputy House speaker under Bill O’Brien 2010-2012 and has co-chaired the conservative House Republican Alliance, serving with O’Brien 2009-2010. She earned an A rating from Americans for Prosperity for her votes in the last House session.
AegisPAC describes Tucker’s potential primary opponent, Guinta, as “scandal-tainted.” Whether the Koch network is abandoning Guinta or merely covering its bet is an open question.
Guinta was the darling of the Kochs when he was first elected in 2010. Americans for Prosperity, the Koch’s advocacy arm, made over $74,000 in independent expenditures supporting Guinta in his first campaign, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
The day he was sworn in for his first term, ThinkProgress’ Lee Fang captured a conversation between Guinta and David Koch, the billionaire businessman who has bankrolled much of the modern conservative movement, in which Guinta confirmed his attendance at Koch’s reception for Republican lawmakers.
KochPAC, the Koch Industries political action committee, has given Guinta $30,000 in campaign contributions over his congressional career. Their most recent $2,000 donation came just three months ago.