WASHINGTON _ Vice President Mike Pence will deliver the keynote address next month at a retreat in Manhattan of the conservative Koch network, as wealthy donors gather to plan political and policy strategy ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.
The network, founded by billionaire industrialist Koch brothers Charles G. and David H. Koch, has close ties to Pence, which has helped enable it to exert influence in the White House despite not endorsing President Trump in 2016.
Pence held a private conversation in June with Charles Koch ahead of the group's Colorado Springs seminar with donors who pay $100,000 annual dues to attend network events.
Trump's legislative director, Marc Short, previously headed the Koch-backed Freedom Partners, a chamber of commerce-style advocacy organization with an aligned political fundraising committee.
The Manhattan meeting on Oct. 12-13 will be the first in New York for the Koch donors network. Over two days, the group will focus on "shaping strategy for the upcoming Senate, House, and gubernatorial races, as well as plans to achieve important policy gains in Washington and state capitals across the country," according to a statement.
The Koch network has promised to spend up to $400 million on issues and political advocacy in support of its free market policies during this election cycle, through its sprawling consortium of outside groups, including Americans for Prosperity and others that sometimes outpace the traditional Republican Party infrastructure.
"We are very pleased to host the vice president at our upcoming retreat," said network spokesman James Davis. "Our members are looking forward to his insight."
The Koch groups, which have helped shape administrative policy, particularly on tax and regulatory reform, were poised to gain influence at the White House with the departure of top Trump advisor Stephen K. Bannon. His nativist and populist ideas sometimes clashed with the more button-downed, business-oriented group.
But Bannon threatens direct competition for the Koch network now that he has been pushed from the White House _ from his perch once again as editor of Breitbart News, the conservative media website. He is trying to tap his own network of wealthy donors to back candidates aligned with Trump's "America First" agenda.
Bannon is assembling a potential slate of outsider candidates opposed to the Republican establishment, including Roy Moore, the fiery former chief justice in Alabama who defeated appointed Sen. Luther Strange in the Republican primary election this week.
Allies of Bannon's are looking for other potential candidates to challenge incumbent Republicans, including some senators who have been aligned with the Koch network.
