By the numbers: 68% of spending for Garcia's congressional campaign linked to Koch brothers
An analysis of campaign finance reports indicates over two-thirds of the money raised by Marilinda Garcia or spent by outside groups on her behalf came from groups with direct ties or close connections to the billionaire Koch brothers.
In last week’s NH1 debate, Garcia dismissed the influence the right-wing billionaires have had on her campaign for Congress. Garcia told the debate audience that Congresswoman Annie Kuster has “brought up this Koch brothers thing so many times that I actually had my staff check. The Koch brothers have contributed approximately 1.5 percent of all of the money I’ve raised for this campaign,” she said.
That’s true – if you don’t include the thousands she raised from the Koch brothers’ “million-dollar donor club” when she attended their secret billionaire summit earlier this summer. And if you don’t include the $5,200 donation from the state director of the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity.
Garcia has collected $7,600 from the Koch Industries PAC and another $2,700 from David Koch – about 1.5 percent of the total $670,000 she reported having raised in her last quarterly report.
But Garcia conveniently neglected to include spending by outside groups on her behalf. Data from the Center for Responsive Politics indicates outside groups have spent a little over $2.5 million on Garcia’s campaign this election cycle. And over $2.3 million of that spending came from two groups with very close ties to the Kochs.
Freedom Partners Action Fund, the Kochs’ super PAC described by Huffington Post as their central bank, has spent over $1 million on Garcia’s behalf.
Club for Growth and Club for Growth Action have spent $1.2 million on Garcia’s campaign. The organizations have close ties to the Kochs’ network. Board member Frayda Levin, for example, is also on the Americans for Prosperity board.
Add it all up and you find that 68 percent of the roughly $3.5 million raised by Garcia or spent by outside groups on her behalf is linked to the Koch brothers – a far cry from the 1.5 percent Garcia referenced in the debate.