A day after the conservative Koch brothers reported writing big checks in Georgia, key union and teacher groups showed they aren't skimping on this year's state elections either.
The Washington D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers reported today that they spent $96,000 in Georgia during the first half of the year, almost all of it for Democratic Party efforts across the state.
Meanwhile, the Georgia Association of Educators reported having spent about $72,000 in the past three months, including $6,300 contributed to Valarie Wilson, a Democrat who is the group’s choice for state school superintendent. (Although the report misspelled her first name).
GAE is affiliated with the National Association of Educators, a group that has traditionally been big donors to Democrats. However, GAE’s report showed $1,000 contributions to Republican House Speaker David Ralston and Republican House Education Chairman Brooks Coleman, along with donations to a few other GOP lawmakers.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Monday that the Koch brothers’ company has contributed about $101,000 in Georgia races since late October.
That’s almost as much as it spent during the previous eight years in Georgia.
Wichita, Kansas-based oil, gas and textile conglomerate Koch Industries gave $50,000 to a state GOP fund and $12,600 to Gov. Nathan Deal’s re-election campaign.
The brothers have a good reason to be interested in Georgia politics. Georgia-Pacific is a subsidiary Koch Industries.
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