Fact Checker: Senate Majority PAC ad claims Koch brothers are buying Ernst's campaign

Introduction

The Koch brothers — out-of-state oil billionaires — are buying the election for Joni Ernst.

Source of claim

Senate Majority PAC

Analysis

Editor's Note: The week after this report ran, the Federal Elections Commission released new filing reports showing the Koch brother's had donated the maximum amount to Joni Ernst's campaign.  Because of this new information, we changed the assessment of this ad from 'mostly false' to 'mostly true'.

Editor's Note: The week after this report ran, the Federal Elections Commission released new filing reports showing the Koch brother's had donated the maximum amount to Joni Ernst's campaign.  Because of this new information, we changed the assessment of this ad from 'mostly false' to 'mostly true'.

To unpack this Fact Checker, let's first consider the source. The advertisement is sponsored by the Senate Majority PAC, a political action committee fighting to protect and expand the Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate. It's fair to say the group has a vested interest in supporting Ernst's opponent, U.S. Senate candidate Bruce Braley, to help Democrats keep a majority.

As of July 8, the PAC had spent $459,927 against Ernst.

The advertisement says Charles and David Koch — conservative political financiers — are buying the election for Ernst because she shares their agenda. The term 'buying the election' is a loose one, so we will just look into whether the Koch brothers and their affiliate organizations have contributed to Ernst's campaign.

An examination of Federal Election Commission filings show that the Koch brothers have not donated directly to the Ernst campaign.

However, Americans for Prosperity, a conservative political advocacy group founded with support of the Koch brothers, spent $500,000 in ads bashing Braley earlier this year.

Ernst also attended a Koch seminar in August 2013, where she is thought to have attracted donors affiliated with the Koch brothers.

The names of donors affiliated with the Koch brothers were published earlier this year by Mother Jones, a left-leaning magazine. The publication obtained a list of VIP donors that supposedly was left behind at a Koch donor gathering earlier this year. Because that magazine list isn't the primary source, we can't assess the validity of those donations.

But itemized Federal Election Commission filings from July 1, 2013, to May 14, 2014, for Ernst show 10 people thought to be associated with the Kochs — based on that list — made donations totaling $25,200.

Though Ernst has received donations from people who live outside Iowa, and who are thought to be affiliated with the Kochs, their donations make up a very small portion — roughly 2.9 percent — of her total $864,961 in itemized individual contributions as of May 14, 2014. With numbers like that, it's hardly fair to say the Koch's are bankrolling her campaign or buying the election.

But it's important to note that advertisements against Ernst's opponent, paid for by an organization founded with support of the Koch brothers, certainly help her election campaign.

Conclusion

The ad uses inflammatory language in making the claim the Koch's are 'buying the election for Joni Ernst.' Though groups affiliated with the Kochs have funded advertisements against her opponent, groups and organizations affiliated with the Koch brothers are spending money on contentious races in many states, and the Kochs have not donated to her campaign directly.

We rate this claim mostly false.

Sources

• Senate Majority PAC, money raised and spent: http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/lookup2.php?cycle=2014&strID=C00484642

• Senate Majority PAC, independent expenditures, communication costs and coordinated expenses:http://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/indexpend.php?cycle=2014&cmte=C00484642

• AFP emerges as GOP's most powerful ally: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/with-early-attacks-against-senate-democrats-afp-emerges-as-gops-most-powerful-ally/2014/02/04/fce5f7ae-8dd6-11e3-833c-33098f9e5267_story.html

• Politico, Koch World 2014: http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=A8FE31E8-48DC-4889-8548-3F90B914A730

• Koch brothers attendee list, Mother Jones: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/02/koch-brothers-palm-springs-donor-list

• Itemized Federal Election Commission Filings for Ernst from July 1, 2013 to May 14, 2014: http://www.fec.gov/