Marc Short
Marc Short is the president of Freedom Partners. In that role, he oversees the spending of grants from that Koch donor organization, which amounted to $250 million in 2012.[1]
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Charles Koch is the right-wing billionaire owner of Koch Industries. As one of the richest people in the world, he is a key funder of the right-wing infrastructure, including the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) and the State Policy Network (SPN). In SourceWatch, key articles on Charles Koch and his late brother David include: Koch Brothers, Americans for Prosperity, Stand Together Chamber of Commerce, Stand Together, Koch Family Foundations, Koch Universities, and I360. |
Professional Background
Prior to his current role, Short served in a number of positions, including chief of staff for the House Republican Conference, chaired by then-Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN), and for former Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX). He was also a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, executive director of the Reagan Ranch, the executive director of the Freedom Alliance, and the director of the Virginia Finance Committee for Oliver North’s senatorial campaign.[2]
Ties to the Koch Brothers
Short has been heavily involved with the Koch brothers and their network of right-wing donors. Along with Freedom Partners’ Kevin Gentry and Americans for Prosperity’s Tim Phillips, Short came up through GOP politics in Virginia, and together, the three so-called Koch operatives have been characterized as “the Koch’s liaisons to Washington’s professional conservative class.”[3]
Short has been described as the newest member of that particular inner circle, having been hired in 2011 to work for the Kochs, though not officially joining Freedom Partners until 2013.[4] In his role, Short oversees the spending of Koch and Koch-tied money by affiliated organizations, some of which, in turn, is spent against Democrats in elections. He was also the Kochs’ representative to the Karl Rove-led Weaver Terrace Group, a coalition of right wing organizations that coordinated ad spending in the 2012 election cycle. Short took over after the departure of another Koch operative, Sean Noble.[3]
References
- ↑ Mike Allen and Jim Vandehei, Exclusive: The Koch brothers' secret bank, Politico, September 11, 2013.
- ↑ Freedom Partners, Board Members page, FreedomPartners.org, accessed June 11, 2014.
- ↑ Jump up to: 3.0 3.1 Kenneth P. Vogel and Tarini Parti, Inside Koch world, Politico, June 15, 2012.
- ↑ Eric Lach, Meet The man Who Runs The Koch Brothers’ Secret Bank, Talking Points Memo, September 16, 2013.
