Carly Fiorina slated to appear at Koch donor event

[Luke Skywalker]

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Carly Fiorina (Jim Cole, AP)

Carly Fiorina, the only woman among the major GOP presidential contenders, is unlikely to make it onto the stage for the first televised debate of the Republican primary next week.
Fiorina, however, soon will appear before another coveted audience: the wealthy business executives and philanthropists who are part of the conservative network overseen by billionaire industrialist Charles Koch and his younger brother, David Koch.
Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, is one of five GOP candidates slated to appear when more than 400 donors to Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce gather this weekend in southern California. Freedom Partners is the non-profit hub of the sprawling network of groups and causes aligned with the Kochs.
“We have a number of members who were interested in hearing more from Carly, so we invited her to our event,” said James Davis, Freedom Partners’ spokesman.
Also slated to attend: Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and former Florida governor Jeb Bush.
For the first time, the Kochs are weighing entering the Republican presidential primary. Earlier this year, Charles Koch told USA TODAY that he might support one or more candidates in the nomination battle if they have a “decent chance of being elected” and a “positive message for America.”
MORE: Charles Koch: We like 5 GOP candidates in primaries
At the time, Koch listed Rubio, Cruz, Bush, Walker and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul among the candidates he was considering supporting.
Paul, who was invited to the California meeting, is not attending. (His appearance at another Freedom Partners’ event earlier this year drew public grumbling among some attendees about his casual attire and tax policies, Politico reported.)
The Koch gathering comes just days before the Aug. 6 debate hosted by Fox News that will feature only 10 of the 16 candidates vying for the nomination based on an average of national polls. Under most scenarios, Fiorina does not appear likely to make the cut.

Carly Fiorina, Charles Koch, David Koch, Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Ted Cruz, 2016, Campaign Finance<span style="color: Red;">*</span>




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