Garcia taps Koch brothers' million dollar donor club
When a consulting firm with deep ties to the Koch brothers picked Marilinda Garcia as its first client, they promised to market her to the Koch brothers’ “exclusive fundraising network.” Those connections are now paying off for Garcia.
Garcia’s campaign manager Tom Szold confirmed she was a guest at the Koch brothers’ secret billionaire summit last month in California. “These folks know how to create jobs and nothing is more important to the citizens of New Hampshire than creating jobs," he told Kathleen Ronayne (presumably with a straight face).
In addition to receiving matching $2600 donations from David Koch and the Koch Industries political action committee, Garcia’s latest FEC filing shows she has pulled in thousands of dollars in contributions from members of the Koch brothers’ ”million-dollar donor club“ – individuals singled out by Charles Koch as having donated over $1 million to right-wing causes:
Leslie, Marvin and Richard Gilliam ($13,000). Richard Gilliam founded one of the nation’s largest private coal mining companies before selling it to Massey Energy for nearly $1 billion in 2010. The Center for Responsive Politics reported he and his wife donated over $1.2 million to federal candidates in the 2012 election cycle.
Richard DeVos ($2000). Forbes reports Devos, the cofounder of Amway and owner of the NBA’s Orlando Magic, is worth $7.3 billion. Since 1970, Mother Jones reports DeVos family members have donated at least $200 million to dozens of right-wing groups including anti-gay organizations. DeVos has come under fire for his comments opposing marriage equality.
Foster Friess ($1000). Friess, the primary donor to the Super PAC backing Rick Santorum’s 2012 presidential bid, is one of Wyoming’s richest men. He made headlines during the campaign when he brushed off concerns about contraception saying, "You know, back in my days, they used Bayer Aspirin for contraceptives. The gals put it between their knees and it wasn’t that costly.”