Koch Network: Will Freeze Support of Lawmakers Who Break With Its Views

The Koch network is “raising the bar and raising expectations” of GOP lawmakers, and said Monday it will freeze its support of anyone who breaks with its views because some Republicans are taking its support for granted, The Hill reports.

So far, 10 GOP House lawmakers and two senators have been targeted by the Koch network’s political arm because of their support for the $1.3 trillion spending package passed by Congress in March or for voting against spending clawbacks.

Americans for Prosperity president Tim Phillips at an event in Colorado Springs Monday singled out Republican Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, who is looking to unseat vulnerable Sen. Heidi Heitkamp.

“He’s inconsistent across the board on these issues,” Phillips said of Cramer’s support for the Export Import Bank, the spending package and the farm bill. “We can’t support him at this time and we’ve met with his team, explained this and lobbied them on this.”

Cramer's campaign shrugged off the slight, per Politico.

"As I have always said, I work for the people of North Dakota and will always vote with them in mind," Cramer said in a statement. "My voting record may not be exactly what every national organization wants, but it is exactly what the majority of North Dakotans expect."

The Koch network also ran ads against Republican House lawmaker Lou Barletta of Pennsylvania for wasteful spending, telling the Philadelphia Enquirer it chose to target races where it thought it could “elevate” the spending issue.

“The fact that we're doing this in an election year shows we're darn serious,” AFP CEO Emily Seidel told the Hill.

The Koch network is only active in four Senate races, including Wisconsin, Tennessee, Florida and Missouri. But it plans to spend about $400 million on politics during this election cycle.

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