It’s a match made in right wing heaven. Wealthy billionaires looking for a rising Republican star to do their bidding. Brothers Koch: meet Susana Martinez.
The courtship between Martinez and the right wing conservative billionaire Koch brothers goes back to her 2010 campaign. Seeing an opportunity for a good investment in a like-minded new candidate, the Koch brothers contributed $10,000 to her 2010 campaign and helped connect her with other big corporate donors--including oil and gas, mining, and other polluting industries. Their investment paid off and Koch Industries contributed another $4,694 to Martinez's campaign this year and $5,000 to her political committee, SusanaPAC.
More importantly, Martinez became part of the Koch inner circle. In August 2013, Gov. Susana Martinez was a featured speaker at a very exclusive private Koch brothers political event at the Hyatt Tamaya Resort near Albuquerque. The summit was a super-secret event made up of high-level conservative Koch allies including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Vice-Presidential candidate, Congressman Paul Ryan.
The Koch brothers operate primarily through their conservative front group Americans for Prosperity (AFP). AFP has received millions from fossil fuel interests, including $5 million from Koch Industries’ foundations. In states across America, AFP has pushed a corporate deregulation agenda aimed at undermining worker rights and gutting environmental laws. With Susana Martinez in control of state government, the Koch brothers hoped the AFP anti-regulation agenda implemented in other states would gain traction in New Mexico. They haven’t been disappointed.
Helping Polluters - Hurting New Mexico’s Environment
When it comes to defending the fossil fuel industry, Susana Martinez is a dream come true for the Koch brothers. They made their billions in the energy sector and they have worked hard to elect candidates at all levels who support their agenda. According to Forbes, Koch Industries is the largest privately owned energy company in the United States. Koch Industries has made its money in the oil business, mostly in oil refining.
To the benefit of corporate polluters like the Koch brothers, Martinez fired every single member of the Environmental Improvement Board (EIB), which is responsible for adopting rules that protect our air and water. Most of the new members appointed by Martinez were committed to eliminating climate change rules, which they did.
Martinez later abolished the dairy pit rule, which required synthetic liners in all manure lagoons in the state, and gutted a rule on how the oil and gas industry manages its waste to protect groundwater. Martinez has also fast-tracked pollution permitting, rolled back energy efficiency codes, and removed New Mexico from the Western Climate Initiative. More recently, Martinez violated the state's Water Quality Act in approving rules that allow copper mines to freely pollute our groundwater.
The Koch brothers’ investment in her has paid off well.
Undermining Worker Rights
Part of the fundamental philosophy of the Koch brothers is that worker rights should be curbed and that unions are the enemy. They have bankrolled anti-union campaigns in Wisconsin, Michigan and other states. With their support, Martinez is backing anti-union policies in New Mexico, by trying to prevent union dues from being automatically deducted from public employees’ pay—in AFSCME’s words, “declaring war” on organized labor. She has also attacked the teachers’ unions and fired members of the Public Employees Labor Relations Board. Undermining the ability of labor unions to engage in elections is one the Koch brothers’ key objectives. With a second Martinez term, New Mexicans can expect a continued anti-worker rights agenda.
AFP, the Koch Brothers and the 2014 Election
AFP plans to spend at least $125 million on electioneering during the 2014 midterms and an inside source commented that was a “very conservative estimate. We’re on track for more than that.” As of May 2014, it had already spent $35 million on ads targeting Democrats.
According to Politico, the "projected budget for Americans for Prosperity would be unprecedented for a private political group in a midterm, and would likely rival even the spending of the Republican and Democratic parties’ congressional campaign arms."
As New Mexicans, we need a governor who will take orders from the voters in our state, not from out of state billionaires with an anti-environmental, anti-worker agenda. We can’t afford another four years of Susana Martinez and the Koch brothers running our state.
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