With Governor Pat McCrory and the state of North Carolina set to sue the Obama administration over its opposition to the state’s anti-LGBT HB2 law — and the White House now suing North Carolina — a reminder that Charles and David Koch have supported the bill’s backers to the tune of nearly half-a-million dollars.
That’s right, the Kochs are prolific financial supporters of Governor McCrory and a number of the North Carolina state legislators behind the law that leaves LGBT individual vulnerable to discrimination, jeopardizes “more than $567.5 million in private-sector economic activity,” and could cause North Carolina to lose up to $4.5 billion in federal education funding.
Here’s how the Kochs’ Americans for Prosperity has invested in North Carolinian elected officials:
- Close to $285,000 on Republican North Carolina legislators in 2010, with “much of [the money]” going to an HB2 co-sponsor as well as to other Republicans who supported the bill.
- $130,000 in support of Governor Pat McCrory in 2012, plus over $80,000 across a number of other NC legislators, including HB2’s “primary sponsor,” Bob Steinburg, and two of the law’s co-sponsors, Michele Presnell and Michael Speciale.
It’s safe to say that Charles and David Koch aren’t thrilled they have to deal with the PR fall-out on this one, but they went out and bought off the North Carolina politicians, so they’re going to have to accept responsibility for the anti-LGBT law their elected stooges wrote, passed, and signed into law.
Background:
AFP Spent Nearly Half A Million Dollars Backing H.B. 2 Supporters, Including The Bill’s Primary Sponsor
2010: AFP Spent Nearly $285,000 On North Carolina Legislative Contests, Much Of That Going To Support HB2 Co-Sponsor Republican Rep. Jonathan Jordan And A Number Of Other Lawmakers Who Voted For HB2. According to the Institute for Southern Studies, “Americans for Prosperity (AFP), a conservative ‘social welfare’ organization that Pope helped found with billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch and to which Pope has contributed generously, spent nearly $285,000 in 2010 on North Carolina legislative contests, with much of that going to support HB2 co-sponsor Republican Rep. Jonathan Jordan of Jefferson and a number of other lawmakers who voted for HB2. Then in 2012, AFP spent $130,000 supporting McCrory and contributed $83,000 to help elect 11 Republican state lawmakers who voted for HB2, including primary sponsor Bob Steinburg of Edenton and co-sponsors Michele Presnell of Burnsville and Michael Speciale of New Bern.” [Institute for Southern Studies, 5/6/16]
2012: AFP Spent $130,000 Supporting Gov. McCrory And Contributed $83,000 To Help Elect 11 Republican State Lawmakers Who Voted For HB2, Including Primary Sponsor Bob Steinburg Of Edenton And Co-Sponsors Michele Presnell Of Burnsville And Michael Speciale Of New Bern. According to the Institute for Southern Studies, “Americans for Prosperity (AFP), a conservative ‘social welfare’ organization that Pope helped found with billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch and to which Pope has contributed generously, spent nearly $285,000 in 2010 on North Carolina legislative contests, with much of that going to support HB2 co-sponsor Republican Rep. Jonathan Jordan of Jefferson and a number of other lawmakers who voted for HB2. Then in 2012, AFP spent $130,000 supporting McCrory and contributed $83,000 to help elect 11 Republican state lawmakers who voted for HB2, including primary sponsor Bob Steinburg of Edenton and co-sponsors Michele Presnell of Burnsville and Michael Speciale of New Bern.” [Institute for Southern Studies, 5/6/16]
AFP-NC Director Donald Bryson: “We Have To Admit That Republicans Are More Likely To Vote For Lower Taxes Than Democrats Are.” According to AFP-NC director Donald Bryson on Freedom Action Network, “[CHAD ADAMS:] So we were talking off air about incentives and how they don’t seem to—that there might be an opportunity for them to go away this year or at least be severely cut. Realistically, what do you think? [DONALD BRYSON:] The House Bill 2 issue is not an issue that Americans for Prosperity gets into. [ADAMS:] I didn’t even mention House Bill 2! [BRYSON:] Well, I mean, but it’s part of the political reality that we live in, right? I mean, we’re a non-partisan organization but we have to admit that Republicans are more likely to vote for lower taxes than Democrats are. So, I mean, just political reality.” [Freedom Action Network, 4/19/16]
AFPF’s Grassroots Director Claimed The Bill Was Needed So Kids Would Not Be Forced “To Go To A Bathroom With A Dude Dressed Like A Woman”
GLA Director of Training & Curriculum Dave Johnson Circulated Tweet Claiming That Overturning Recent North Carolina Legislation Would “Force Your Kids To Go To A Bathroom With A Dude Dressed Like A Woman.” According to a tweet by Grassroots Leadership Academy Director of Training & Curriculum Dave Johnson, “Bruce Springsteen wants to force your kids to go to a bathroom with a dude dressed like a http://wp.me/pqwpd-Cjx[.]” The tweet linked to an article on The Right Scoop titled “Bruce Springsteen Wants To Force Your Kids To Go To A Bathroom With A Dude Dressed Like A Woman.” [Dave Johnson – Twitter, 4/8/16]
State Policy Network’s Vice President Advocated For H.B. 2 As “The Best Way To Unify” So-Called “Backwards-Ass Rednecks”
State Policy Network Executive Vice President Tony Woodlief Tweeted That “If We’d Known Banning Transgender Bathrooms Would Keep New Yorkers From Visiting” North Carolina, “We’d Have Done It Sooner.” According to a tweet by State Policy Network executive vice president Tony Woodlief, “Dear Gov. Cuomo: If we’d known banning transgender bathrooms would keep New Yorkers from visiting NC, we’d have done it sooner.” [Tony Woodlief – Twitter, 3/29/16]
State Policy Network Vice President Tony Woodlief Mocked Non-Binary Gender Monikers, Said A North Carolina Law Requires The Use Of Public Restrooms Matching The “Equipment” Of “What He (Or She, Or S(he), Or Some Entirely New And Enlightened Signifier Even Now Being Conjured In A Brown University Anthropology Classroom) Received At Birth.” According to a post by State Policy Network executive vice president Tony Woodlief for his blog, Sand in the Gears, “Take the recent law passed here in North Carolina, for example, mandating that every user of a public restroom attend only those assigned to people bearing the equipment matching what he (or she, or s(he), or some entirely new and enlightened signifier even now being conjured in a Brown University anthropology classroom) received at birth.” [TonyWoodlief.com, 4/13/16]
Woodlief Defended The North Carolinian Reaction To Its Restroom Law By Saying That “The Best Way To Unify We Feuding, Vengeful, Petty, Grudge-Holding, Backwards-Ass Rednecks Is To Tell Us The Yankees Are Displeased.” According to a post by State Policy Network executive vice president Tony Woodlief for his blog, Sand in the Gears, “Now, educated people know this is an evil law. We know this because of the outcry from people who know a thing or two about repression and homophobia, many of them having spent hours cozying with dictators in Cuba, Egypt, Venezuela, and the like. Our moral betters know evil because they have looked evil in the eye. They’ve sipped espresso with evil. They’ve played private concerts for evil. But we Southerners are a contrarian lot. It runs in our tainted blood. While straight-sighted moral people rightly cower at reproaches from New York politicians, Hollywood mavens, and pornography conglomerates, we perversely internalize them as badges of honor. In fact, the best way to unify we feuding, vengeful, petty, grudge-holding, backwards-ass rednecks is to tell us the Yankees are displeased.” [TonyWoodlief.com,4/13/16]
- Woodlief Wrote That It Might Take “Another Generation Or So” For “The Pervasive And Homogenized Digital Mindwash” To Reach The South, At Which Point “Our Grandchildren Have No Certainty Whatsoever About God Or Virtue Or The Purpose Of A Penis.”According to a post by State Policy Network executive vice president Tony Woodlief for his blog, Sand in the Gears, “Blood runs hot where morality is concerned, and viewed from that perspective, my state is doing a great service to our sideways neighbors. With so little evil and suffering left in the modern world, good people need a beacon of evil against which to calibrate. Some Southerners are content to play that part, for a time at least, until we can scramble the rest of the way up the moral ladder, which may take another generation or so, by which time the pervasive and homogenized digital mindwash which scours us all every waking hour will have reached its fruition even in this backwards territory, such that our grandchildren have no certainty whatsoever about God or virtue or the purpose of a penis, and better still, no curiosity on these matters, because curiosity breeds questions, and questions beget challenges[.]” [TonyWoodlief.com, 4/13/16]