Koch Network Launches New PR Firm
By LEIGH ANN CALDWELL
The network of organizations running under the direction of billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch is adding a new entity to its already sprawling political and policy network of organizations. In Pursuit Of is the name of the new public relations firm that will work to expand the message of a free markets and small government.
The new firm is for-profit, and will represent other parts of the Koch network, including Concerned Veterans of America, LIBRE Initiative and Americans for Prosperity. It could also take on a variety of clients that meet their ideological values, including political candidates, companies, non-profits or trade organizations.
The model will be similar to the Koch-run i360, a political data operation that works closely with network organizations but is hired by outside political clients.
Their political focus will be on corporate tax reform, reducing regulations and replacing the Affordable Care Act.
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The network spent about $250 million on politics and policy to help elect Republicans to office in 2016, though none of it went to Trump.
Despite pressure from donors throughout the campaign, the brothers never supported Trump and instead focused on electing down ballot Republicans. They point to winning seven of the eight Senate seats they contested, the Missouri gubernatorial race and a number of House races. They also say they saved taxpayers $200 billion in federal and state policy wins as well.
The group could be odds at times Trump even after he enters the White House. Trump has indicated that he’s supportive of large government spending to boost specific programs or the economy.
James Davis, a current vice president of Freedom Partners, the Koch network’s political arm, will run the new agency as president.
“These changes that we’re making help position us for success to make an impact and more broadly across these various issues,” Davis said in an interview Wednesday.
They are already researching the political landscape for 2017, which includes two gubernatorial races, and the Senate map in 2018. They could get involved in as many as ten Senate races.
Earlier this year the three grassroots groups, AFP, LIBRE and CVA, began working more closely in a strategic realigning of the vast network. Davis said this is a continuation of that effort to better align to the political and policy needs of the future.
LEIGH ANN CALDWELL