Maia Cook, OpenSecrets
August 12, 2024
Charles Koch during an interview on MSNBC (Screenshot)
This article originally appeared in OpenSecrets.
The Koch network’s flagship group, Americans for Prosperity, has spent two decades pouring money into influencing U.S. elections.
As the group celebrates its 20-year anniversary, its hybrid super PAC ranks third in outside spending in the 2024 cycle.
Americans for Prosperity Action, a hybrid PAC affiliated with the group, has spent over $257 million since 2004 to support conservative congressional and presidential candidates.
The organization is known for supporting reduced government spending, opposing collective bargaining, curbing environmental regulations, and backing the oil and gas industry.
Its website calls Americans for Prosperity “the premier grassroots advocacy organization transforming policy around the country.”
Americans for Prosperity has spent approximately $62 million to bolster Republican candidates and $10 million to oppose Trump in the 2024 cycle, as of August 6. Despite pledges to reach across party lines and work with Democrats in the wake of former President Donald Trump’s election, not a single penny has been spent in support of Democrats during the 2024 cycle.
Court decisions such as Wisconsin v. Right To Life in 2007, Citizens United v. FEC in 2010 and Speechnow v. FEC in 2010 spurred the proliferation of “dark money,” enabling organizations like Americans for Prosperity to legally raise and spend unlimited sums of money through 501(c)(4) nonprofits without having to disclose the original source of funding behind their donors’ network.
One out of every $5 fueling the Americans for Prosperity Action committee comes from nknown sources. Americans for Prosperity’s hybrid PAC has received large donations from Stand Together Chamber of Commerce, a dark money group that is part of the Koch network and gave the hybrid PAC $25 million.
Heir to oil giant Fred C. Koch and his multinational company Koch Industries, Charles Koch founded Americans for Prosperity and spearheaded the Koch network along with his late brother, David. Charles Koch is ranked by Forbes as the 24th richest man in the world, with a family net worth of $67.8 billion as of August 2024.
His own company, Koch Industries, gave another $25 million to Americans for Prosperity Action in 2024. The hybrid PAC has also received contributions from Alice and Jim Walton, heirs to the Walmart fortune.
But since the hybrid PAC’s top donor is a dark money group that does not disclose its donors, millions of dollars come from donors whose identities remain undisclosed.
Americans for Prosperity was Nikki Haley’s second largest outside supporter in the 2024 presidential election, spending over $31 million to back her campaign during the GOP primaries. In a memo released in November 2023, the organization justified its decision to support Nikki Haley, writing, “Haley is more viable amongst GOP Primary voters to take on Trump.”
The presidential campaign of Ron DeSantis, who has since withdrawn from the race, responded to Americans for Prosperity’s decision to support Haley, arguing, "Every dollar spent on Nikki Haley's candidacy should be reported as an in-kind [donation] to the Trump campaign.”
Americans for Prosperity's Most Expensive Targeted Candidates 2024
Totals include outside spending by Americans for Prosperity Action PAC.
Americans for Prosperity’s hybrid PAC has spent approximately $10 million to oppose former President Donald Trump and over $9 million to oppose President Joe Biden, who withdrew from the race and has since handed over his campaign to Vice President Kamala Harris.
The political giving of employees of Americans for Prosperity tends to be in line with their organization’s viewpoints. Since 2010, a total of $150,000 has been contributed to Republicans and a mere $286 to Democrats.
Although Americans for Prosperity steers millions toward outside spending on elections, it has also been active on the lobbying scene for a decade — hiring 28 different lobbyists since 2014.
In 2023, Americans for Prosperity spent over $1.9 million between 17 lobbyists — setting a record for the most it has ever spent on lobbying fees in one year.
Lobbying firms working for Americans for Prosperity reported lobbying around 131 bills in 2023 filings, including companion bills in both the House and Senate.
A key issue that Americans for Prosperity lobbied on in recent years was immigration, including the Protecting Children of Long-Term Visa Holders Act, the Integrating New Technologies to Empower Law Enforcement at Our Borders Act, and the DIGNIDAD Act.
“Congress’s failure to strengthen our border and streamline lawful migration pathways created a system that undermines the rule of law and fails to meet the needs of American families, workers, and entrepreneurs,” Americans for Prosperity states on its website.
Quarterly lobbying by Americans for Prosperity
The Koch brothers' group shattered its own lobbying records in 2023, spending a total of $1.9 million among 17 hired lobbyists.
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In addition to spending on lobbying, Americans for Prosperity’s foundation files amicus briefs weighing in on court cases.
The Americans for Prosperity Foundation filed 23 amicus briefs last year, 14 of which were for cases heard by the Supreme Court. The foundation has submitted 20 amicus briefs in 2024, as of August.
Recently, it submitted an amicus brief for a Supreme Court case No On E v. Chiu, which addresses “Whether requiring political advertisers to name their donors’ donors within their advertisements advances any important or compelling state interest.”
Americans for Prosperity argued that the requirement to disclose donors’ donors would abridge their First Amendment rights to “speak anonymously” and “associate freely,” and would “driv[e] civil society further into tribalism.”
OpenSecrets Editorial and Investigations Manager Anna Massoglia contributed to this report.
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