Go Big or Go Home appears to be the motto of the conservative Koch brothers when it comes to their plans for campaign spending on the 2016 presidential race.

Billionaires Charles G. and David H. Koch will gather together their rich friends and collectively spend nearly a billion dollars during the next election.

At $889 million, a figure leaked this week at the Kochs’ annual winter donor retreat near Palm Springs, the brothers’ secretive fundraising network goal would dwarf the $657 million spent by the entire Republican Party during the 2012 election. The Koch budget might even match the total spending by both Republicans and Democrats in next year’s contests, according to The New York Times.

That kind of money means plenty of conservative candidates will be circling the Kochs hoping for handouts. Attending the Kochs’ retreat this week were Republican senators Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida, who participated in a policy discussion there. Another Republican with his eyes on the White House, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, was also there.

And all the while, the Kochs will largely avoid disclosing the sources of their campaign operation.

“The Kochs are longtime opponents of campaign disclosure laws,” Nicholas Confessore wrote at the Times. “Unlike the parties, their network is constructed chiefly of nonprofit groups that are not required to reveal donors. That makes it almost impossible to tell how much of the money is provided by the Kochs — among the wealthiest men in the country — and how much by other donors.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Koch Brothers’ Budget of $889 Million for 2016 Is on Par With Both Parties’ Spending (by Nicholas Confessore, New York Times)

Budget for Koch-Backed Network: Almost $1 Billion for 2016 (by Philip Elliot and Steve Peoples, Associated Press)

Koch Brothers Group Sues State to Keep Political Donor Names Hidden (by Ken Broder, AllGov California)

Koch Brothers Responsible for almost 10% of TV Campaign Ads So Far this Year (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

Koch Brothers Spent more on 2012 Election than Top 10 Unions Combined (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

44 Congressional Darlings of the Koch Brothers (by Matt Bewig, AllGov)