"Conservative financiers Charles and David Koch have spent far more to influence the 2014 midterm elections than progressive activist Tom Steyer, yet for months media outlets have equated the two."

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While Media Promote Claim Of Equal Influence, The Koch Bros. Outspend Steyer By Huge Margins
By Oliver Willis, October 17, 2014

Conservative financiers Charles and David Koch have spent far more to influence the 2014 midterm elections than progressive activist Tom Steyer, yet for months media outlets have equated the two.

The New York Times Magazine reports that Steyer's pledge of $50 million to his group NextGen Climate "has a long way to go to catch up with the Koch brothers, whose own group, Americans for Prosperity, already has political operations in every state that Steyer is contesting, along with 28 others." The Times notes that Americans for Prosperity (AFP) claims that it will spend $125 million this year.

Further reporting from NBC News found that the constellation of groups backed by the Kochs -- Americans for Prosperity, Freedom Partners, Concerned Veterans for America, and Generational Opportunity - have so far outspent NextGen Climate at a rate of "nearly 6 to 1."

NBC also points out that its tally does not including spending during primary season, when Koch groups were "bombarding Democratic incumbents on health care."

Despite this, for months media outlets have used inaccurate reasoning to suggest that the Kochs' spending is balanced by Steyer's. Much of the money the Kochs have spent on advertising has been through 501(c)(4) non-profits, which are not subject to the same campaign expenditure disclosure laws that super PACs like NextGen Climate are. The Kochs are reportedly putting more money into their own PAC, Freedom Partners Action Fund, but long after having spent millions in "dark" money via their non-profits.

Steyer has given several on the record interviews about his philanthropy, speaking to the Times and other news outlets about why he is trying to influence the election (he has challenged the Kochs to a public debate on climate change). By contrast, the Kochs are very tight-lipped, usually speaking through their corporate PR website, Kochfacts, or in a Wall Street Journal editorial complaining about criticism from Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV).

The Times Magazine piece also highlights the symbiotic relationship between the companies owned by the Kochs and their political donations. Georgia Pacific, a Koch-owned paper company, benefited from changes to environmental regulations in Florida under Republican governor Rick Scott. As the Times notes, "Scott's deregulatory efforts did not go unnoticed. Americans for Prosperity invited Scott to speak at the group's Defending the Dream summit in 2013." Americans for Prosperity is also now phone banking and canvassing for Gov. Scott in his campaign against former Gov. Charlie Crist (D), whose administration supported environmental regulation and enforcement opposed by Georgia Pacific.

While the Times article gets to the heart of the Koch's massive spending, other media outlets have been missing the big picture for months.

On the May 14 edition of Fox News' The Five, co-host Eric Bolling minimized the differences between the level of support coming from Steyer and the Kochs, asking, "What's the difference?" Co-host Greg Gutfeld later added that "all politicians have rich friends, and shouting about it is like shaking your fist at a volcano. It doesn't do any good." Both Bolling and co-host Kimberly Guilfoyle dismissed co-host Bob Beckel's contention that the Kochs had underwritten an array of right-wing groups.

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The Washington Times said in April that Steyer's planned spending had the Kochs "looking like cheapskates in the political field," and cited the donations made by their company Koch Industries to claim only $18 million in spending from 1989 to 2013. This glossed over the spending from the Koch's outside groups, which was estimated at over $400 million for the 2012 election.

In June, CNN also drew an equivalence between Steyer and the Kochs, failing to note the wide disparity in election spending.
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