Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 06:05 pm
Progressives scored a big win in New Mexico as the Koch Brothers have laid off staff and closed down their Americans For Prosperity political operation in the state.
A new report by ProgressNow New Mexico has found that the Koch Brothers have shut down their political arm, laid off staff, packed up and left the state.
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According to ProgressNow New Mexico,
A new ProgressNow New Mexico investigation has discovered that only a little over a year after setting up shop in our state Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the far-right special interest front group bankrolled by the Koch brothers, is saying “adios” to the Land of Enchantment.
Pam Wolfe, AFP’s Field Representative in New Mexico, confirmed late last week that AFP was in fact “reallocating their AFP NM FAILresources elsewhere” and will no longer have any “boots on the ground” in New Mexico.
News of the Koch brother-backed organization’s downsizing their investments in a critical state for the conservative movement is the first news of any reconsideration or pulling out of any state by the billionaire right-wing funders. It raises questions of whether similar pull backs are also underway in other states.
The Koch brothers spent over $6.1 million in New Mexico in 2012, including $500,000 on a failed attempt to defeat a bill that would raise the minimum wage in Albuquerque. New Mexico was one of 34 states where the Kochs tried to build a field organization to support the Republican agenda.
The Koch effort was a complete failure. Besides the minimum wage, the Kochs also lost on marriage equality, and two attempts to ban abortions. They didn’t have any success at all as a wave of liberalism has swept through the state.
There are no signs that the Kochs are going to stop spending millions of dollars to support Republican candidates, but their days of astroturf activism have come to an end in New Mexico. New Mexico’s Democrats and progressives beat the Koch brothers with unity and superior organization.
Just as the Kochs failed to buy themselves the presidency in 2012, they failed to buy themselves a state in 2013. There are limits to what money can buy. Superior organization and the will of the people will always trump a conservative billionaire’s checkbook.
If it happened in New Mexico, it can happen all across the country. It is time to give Charles and David Koch the boot nationwide.
Image: ProgressNow New Mexico
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
