Remember 2010, when the Medicare scooter-riding lunatic fringe of the Republican Party swept to power? Two years later, the people who gave you Allen West and Michele Bachman have stopped making daily headlines, but their influence is still strong.
Billionaire oil barons Charles and David Koch, the sugar daddies behind the Tea Party, continue doling out hundreds of thousands of dollars to congressional candidates throughout the country.
Federal Election Commission records show that Adam Hasner, the former state House Majority Leader running for the District 22
congressional seat West is vacating, has received a $2,500 donation from
the Koch Industries PAC. This is not entirely shocking, since the
formerly moderate Hasner has been courting hard-right voters for more than a year now. Still, collecting money from the brothers who have been called "the Standard Oil of our times" makes Hasner a target for anyone who dislikes say, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker or global warming.
Connie Mack IV, the Republican running against U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, is even
more blessed by the Koch duo. According to the FEC, he has collected $7,000 from the Koch
Industries PAC.
Other local GOP candidates receiving donations from Koch Industries include Miami U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, who got $2,500, and U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney (R-Tequesta), who received $1,000. In 2010, then-Senate candidate Marco Rubio received a whopping $32,200 from people and political action committees associated with Koch Industries, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
