With $50,000 in Koch Cash & a Nearly 90 Percent AFP Rating, Kelly Can’t Hide Ties to Dark Money Groups
Americans for Prosperity may try to give one of their rising stars cover, but Kelly Ayotte’s ties to Koch-backed dark money groups are too deep to hide – especially in an election year. Americans for Prosperity has already spent $1.2 million propping up Ayotte, and the nervous incumbent is still running neck-and-neck with Governor Maggie Hassan. Here are the other facts on Ayotte’s Koch connections:
1. Kelly Ayotte has accepted more than $50,000 in Koch cash.
2. Ayotte voted with Americans for Prosperity nearly 90 percent of the time during her first four years in the Senate before she realized how out-of-touch she is with New Hampshire and began a desperate attempt to rewrite her record.
3. Ayotte attended a $10,000 a plate fundraiser hosted by David Koch in Manhattan.
4. In November, president of Americans for Prosperity Tim Phillips said she “had a really good voting record on a lot of pretty tough issues.”
5. Even after Ayotte announced her election year change of heart on an Obama energy proposal, both David Koch and Julia Koch maxed out to her campaign.
“The timing of this AFP story should convince anyone who thought Senator Ayotte offered the People’s Pledge in earnest that she’s just another desperate incumbent,” said Lauren Passalacqua, DSCC National Press Secretary. “When Senator Ayotte had the chance to do something about dark money in politics, she voted against it and then reaped the benefits of the Citizens United ruling: accepting Koch cash and supporting enough of their agenda to earn a nearly 90 percent AFP rating in her first four years. She’s a leading example of how broken the campaign finance system really is and her shallow, election-year stunts won’t undo her disappointing record.”
