Billionaire David Koch has given “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to a pro–Joe Lhota PAC called New Yorkers for Proven Leadership, though Lhota claims he “had no idea” that the conservative sugar daddy planned to help him out. ”[He’s doing it] because he doesn’t want the Democrat to win. It’s as simple as that,” the GOP candidate said during a weekend appearance on MSNBC. “I met David Koch once. I don’t know him and I have nothing to do with the independent expenditures.” In his effort to distance himself from Koch’s looming right-wing shadow, Lhota brought up his own New York–friendly positions on abortion rights and marriage equality, adding, “there are rooms within the Republican Party that I would not be allowed in.” We’re sure that’s especially true now that people are watching.
