A super PAC with close ties to billionaire Charles Koch raised $78 million in the first half of 2023, money the group is using to try and prevent former President Donald Trump from becoming the Republican nominee.
(Bloomberg) — A super PAC with close ties to billionaire Charles Koch raised $78 million in the first half of 2023, money the group is using to try and prevent former President Donald Trump from becoming the Republican nominee.
Americans for Prosperity Action received the bulk of its funding from two $25 million donations, according to its latest filing with the Federal Election Commission, one from Koch Industries Inc. and the second from Stand Together Chamber of Commerce, a political nonprofit that doesn’t disclose its donors,
The super political action committee also received $5 million donations from billionaires Rob Walton and Jim Walton, both heirs of Walmart Inc. Ron Cameron, a major GOP donor who supported Trump in 2020, gave $1 million. Americans for Prosperity Action spent $4 million and ended June with $75 million cash on hand.
The substantial sum, which is more than twice as much as the Trump campaign raised in the second quarter, is a headwind for Trump as he seeks to return to the White House. Still, he remains the GOP frontrunner, with 54% support in the RealClearPolitics average of polls. He is nearly 36 points ahead of the second-place contender, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is the only other candidate polling in double digits.
Americans for Prosperity Action’s $78 million is part of a growing pile of Republican-allied money seeking to defeat Trump. PACs allied with anti-tax group Club for Growth have also been raising millions of dollars to look for an alternative to the GOP standard-bearer.
Charles Koch, and his late brother David, who died in 2019, have been some of the largest Republican donors in recent decades, but never warmed to Trump. The brothers’ political network refused to financially back him as far back as 2016, which led the former president to call the Koch brothers “a total joke” and “highly overrated.”
Americans for Prosperity Action has yet to back one of Trump’s challengers. The group has spent a little less than $600,000 so far on digital and satellite ads attacking him, according to Ad Impact. Its ads say that nominating Trump will lead to President Joe Biden winning reelection in 2024 and point out that under Trump, Republicans lost control of the three elected branches of government.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.