Opinion | The Koch brothers’ influence in Kansas
Maura Kate Mitchelson, assistant news editor
If you thought students would have run out of things to say about the Koch brothers by now, then you thought wrong.
Besides us both giving Chapman an absurd amount of money – mine being tuition and theirs being a donation – Charles Koch, David Koch, and I have one other thing in common: We’re all from the great state of Kansas. As a proud Kansan, I see the Koch brothers as a bit of a stain on my lovely home state’s reputation.
Prior to coming to Chapman, I knew the Koch brothers mainly as “the rich guys from Wichita.” I had pretty much no clue what they did or why they were some of the wealthiest people in America. (Combined, the two brothers are worth around $50 billion.)
I even used to wonder if they had a grandson my age who might be willing to share that fortune with me.
Upon coming to Chapman and reading The Panther’s coverage of the Charles Koch Foundation’s $5 million donation to Chapman, what I have learned has been rather eye-opening.
Charles Koch and David Koch inherited their daddy’s oil money and created the multibillion dollar Koch Industries. With that money, they have supported the arts, built community centers, and pushed a very specific political agenda.
The Kochs financially support groups that deny climate change and are adamantly against public education and public transit. Both brothers are libertarians, but are known to support conservative candidates.
David Koch even ran as the vice presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party in 1980. In June, he retired and left his older brother, Charles Koch, in charge.
The Koch Foundation remained neutral during the 2016 presidential race. Charles Koch compared choosing between presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump to choosing between “cancer and a heart attack.”Yikes.
This year, though, the Koch brothers and their donor network plan to spend a cool $400 million to support Republican candidates and policies in the upcoming midterm elections. Double yikes.
When I found out more about the brothers’ support of conservative candidates, my first concern was that they would be supporting Republican Kris Kobach. Kobach is running for governor of Kansas and, somehow, is even worse than our previous governor, Sam Brownback, who resigned to become Trump’s religious freedom ambassador.
Kobach is heavily supported by Trump and his campaign slogan is actually “Make Kansas Great Again.” Very original, Kris.
But to my surprise, a Koch-funded group actually donated money in support of Kobach’s opponent in the primaries, Republican Jeff Colyer. Colyer took over for Brownback after he left the state and has done next to nothing to help Kansas out of the tax cut hole his predecessor so ignorantly dug.
Other than the fact that they once went hunting together, there doesn’t seem to be a connection between the Koch donor network and Kobach, but now that he is the only conservative candidate in the historically bloodred state, I’m sure they would prefer him over my queen (and preferred gubernatorial candidate), Laura Kelly.
My point here is that I love Kansas. I would hate for people to see my favorite state as a breeding ground for dark money and ultra-conservative tendencies, but the Koch brothers have made it seem that way.
When you think of Kansas, please think of fields of wheat, barbecue, Kansas University basketball, and the Wizard of Oz – not the Koch brothers. And when you vote, do your research.