Closing Argument: Terri Lynn Land’s Failed Koch Candidacy

October 30, 2014

The billionaire Koch brothers know a thing or two about making economic investments, and so ahead of the 2014 election cycle, they sought to invest in candidates that would push their extreme self-serving agenda in races in that could help expand the senate map for Republicans. In Michigan, they have gone zero for one with Republican Senate candidate Terri Lynn Land.

The wealthy brothers couldn’t have asked for a candidate who would better toe the Koch line than Terri Lynn Land, unfortunately that agenda turned out to be anathema to Michigan voters. Whether she was opposing a minimum wage hikegushing over unlimited dark money in campaigns, or promising to fully repeal the Affordable Care Act, Land’s positions on the trail have been everything the Koch brothers could hope for. And on top of all that, she had millions of dollars to fund her own campaign.

So the Kochs invested, maxing out to Land’s campaign and running millions in misleading attack ads to prop up her candidacy. She even won an endorsement from the Koch-funded National Federation of Independent Businesses, which purports to advocate for small businesses by defending tax cuts for the wealthy.

But there was one problem: The voters have rejected Terri Lynn Land and the Koch agenda in Michigan. They’ve crashed and burned, and she’s poised to be handed a massive defeat on Election Day. The Koch brand has proved toxic in Michigan. From massive pollution in Detroit and killing hundreds of Michigan jobs by closing a plant in Gaylord, to opposing the Detroit bankruptcy package and Medicaid expansion, the Koch brothers have wreaked havoc on Michigan.

And they’ve been held accountable. Groups have run ads highlighting the Koch brothers’ business practices in Michigan and Terri Lynn Land’s support from them. Eventually, polling showed that Michigan voters became familiar with the Koch brothers, and that they didn’t like their agenda one bit. Now, the last thing Michiganders want is a Koch pawn representing them in Washington. That will be officially confirmed Tuesday night.

Paid for by American Bridge 21st Century Foundation