Koch network snubs key GOP Senate candidate
By MAGGIE SEVERNS 07/30/2018 03:04 PM EDT Updated 07/30/2018 05:27 PM EDT
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The powerful Koch political network won’t help the Republican nominee in a crucial Senate race less than 100 days before the midterm elections, saying Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) doesn’t do enough to further the Koch’s policy issues to warrant their help.
And as the Koch network pushes Republicans to not take its support for granted, the network has quietly taken other steps to withhold its support from Senate candidates it sees as out-of-line with its views, despite the party's push to maintain or expand its majority this fall.
Cramer was the first Republican Senate candidate to be publicly jettisoned by the powerful Koch network this cycle. But during a private briefing over the weekend, donors were given a hand-out that indicated the network is also currently not supporting Senate candidates in two other key states — Indiana and Nevada — according to a photo of the document obtained by POLITICO.
Cramer, who is challenging Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) in a must-win contest that could decide the balance of power in the Senate during the next Congress. In pushing him aside, Koch officials were clear to the donors that they are sending a message: Republicans in Congress should not take their support for granted.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/07/30/koch-network-kevin-cramer-senate-749833