Exclusive: Koch-linked PAC raises more than $20 million
WASHINGTON — Freedom Partners Action Fund, a new super PAC tied to the Koch brothers' political network, has quickly raised nearly $21 million to help Republicans in midterm races, new documents show.
Nearly $5 million — or roughly a quarter of the super PAC's total haul — poured in during the first two weeks of October, according to a report Freedom Partners will file Thursday with federal regulators. The group provided an advance copy of its filing to USA TODAY.
Three donations of $1 million apiece provided the bulk of the last-minute funds. They came from Paul Foster, the billionaire executive chairman of Texas-based Western Refining; Arkansas-based poultry producer Mountaire; and a trust controlled by Roger Stone, the CEO of an Illinois packaging company.
In all, the group drew 39 contributions, including a $250 check from a Wisconsin retiree, in October.
Freedom Partners' spokesman James Davis, said supporters write checks because they "believe that President Obama and the policies of this administration are pushing the American Dream further out of reach."
The super PAC, which began operation over the summer, has swiftly emerged as a big player in the fierce battle for the Senate where Republicans need to pick up six seats to seize the majority.
The group has spent nearly $15 million, and Wednesday, it announced an additional $6.5 million in spending on TV commercials in six Senate battleground states — Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire and North Carolina.
The super PAC's leaders plan to spend $25 million altogether on the midterms and have reserved post-election airtime in Louisiana, anticipating a runoff Dec. 6 between Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu and Republican Bill Cassidy. (A runoff is likely because neither candidate has consistently polled above the 50% threshold needed for victory on Election Day.)
The decision to start a super PAC marks a big shift for the political network tied to the billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch, whose Koch Industries is one of the nation's largest private companies. Traditionally, Koch-related political activity has flowed through tax-exempt organizations that do not publicly disclose contributors' identities.
The super PAC allows the group to run pointed ads that call for the election or defeat of candidates, an activity that tax-exempt organizations must limit under federal tax law.
Neither Koch donated to the group in October, the new filings show. They previously contributed $4 million to the super PAC through two trusts. Those donations account for just shy of 20% of the group's total contributions to date.
At least one contributor, Minnesota broadcasting magnate Stanley Hubbard, said he had no qualms about publicly joining the Kochs' cause. He and his company have donated a total of $200,000 to Freedom Partners' super PAC since its inception.
"We should stand up for what we believe in," Hubbard said in a telephone interview Wednesday.
Hubbard said he is an independent who will back some individual Democratic candidates on Election Day, but he supports Freedom Partners' push to give Republicans a majority in the Senate as a way "to have a bit of balance in Washington."
Installing a Republican Senate, he said, could force President Obama to revisit the 2010 Affordable Care Act. "I hope that we start to get a little bit of compromise."