While the Koch brothers have not decided whether to wade into the presidential race, they are making their presence known in the race for control of the Senate.
Freedom Partners, a Koch-funded group, is making a $3 million buy in the Pennsylvania Senate race and focusing almost solely on Democrat Katie McGinty, who is challenging GOP Sen. Pat Toomey for his seat in November.
According to a spokesman for the group, the buy kick off next Wednesday and will last three weeks, running on cable and broadcast television, as well as on digital platforms. The group also released its first ad of the buy on Thursday going after McGinty.
The buy is the single biggest the group has put forth in any of the contested Senate races this cycle, with Freedom Partners also making major buys in Ohio and Wisconsin, both of which feature incumbent GOP senators up for reelection (Rob Portman and Ron Johnson), as well as Nevada, where former Democratic Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto is set to face either Rep. Joe Heck or 2010 GOP Senate nominee Sharron Angle.
The buy will directly target McGinty, a failed 2014 gubernatorial candidate and former green energy lobbyist, specifically for her tenure as secretary of the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, during which she helped direct millions of dollars in subsidies to various companies, according to the group.
McGinty won the party’s nomination to take on Toomey when she beat former Rep. Joe Sestak and Braddock Mayor John Fetterman in last month’s primary.
According to the latest RealClearPolitics average, Toomey holds a seven point advantage, 46-39 percent. However, the only poll taken after the primary shows him leading by just a single point, 45-44 percent.
Last week, the group refuted reports that David Koch was planning on dumping millions of dollars into the campaign of former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, who is running under the Libertarian banner.
