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Rockbridge Network
American political advocacy group From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Rockbridge Network is a conservative political advocacy group founded by JD Vance and Chris Buskirk.
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The group has been backed by Silicon Valley investors, and become known for its connections to investors in the tech industry, as well as to the Donald Trump Administration.[1]
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Purpose, organization, and methodology
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Rockbridge describes itself as "a kind of political venture capital firm.”[2][3] In 2022, the organization circulated a brochure[2][3] which states the following:[4]
"Our goal is to bring together investors who are dissatisfied with the status quo of politics and raise capital to fund projects that will disrupt but advance the Republican agenda. We are focused on supporting people and projects that can end the decline and revitalize our country. [...] The Rockbridge Network will replace the current Republican ecosystem of think tanks, media organizations and activist groups that have contributed to the Party's decline with better action-oriented, more effective people and institutions that are focused on winning."[4]
The brochure outlines some of the organization's specific "projects" and plans to achieve their goals. One goal is to "build a political coalition that will win national elections with 55% of the popular vote".[4] Another goal, which they address through their "Rockbridge Media Project", involves "building a new conservative ecosystem" by funding various media initiatives.[4] The "Lawfare & Strategic Litigation" project proposes to use "Strategic Litigation" to "identify leverage points where the law allows [them] to hold bad actors, including the media, accountable."[4] The "Rockbridge Transition Project" proposes to "create a 'government-in-waiting' with the people and the plans to staff the next Republican Administration" in order to "govern effectively with conservative goals, from day one."[4] The "Red State Project", which in 2021 had a larger budget per state than any of the other projects combined, accused "the left" of "[investing] heavily in state- level infrastructure to turn red states blue," and said that "Rockbridge was "building a centralized, organizing force in each state by hiring staff to coordinate like-minded groups to ensure we win."[4] Another project indicates the group's interest in redistricting, saying that "efforts to influence the new Congressional maps [were] underway and are [sic] results [were] trending favorably."[4] The brochure says Rockbridge participated in "bringing together and coordinating the activities of the conservative coalition", including "life groups, Second Amendment groups, free enterprise, immigration, education choice and excellence, [and] faith" groups.[4]
Reuters reported that Rockbridge "seeks to influence U.S. politics through a centrally controlled network of right-wing political groups backed by some of the same deep-pocketed tech investors who helped bankroll Vance’s political rise."[1]
Rockbridge groups
According to the New York Times, Rockbridge "steers" eight organizations, "including four dark-money 501(c)(4) organizations, two super PACs, a donor-advised 501(c)(3) fund for nonprofit activity and the Rockbridge Network umbrella organization, an L.L.C. Mr. Buskirk’s main super PAC, Turnout for America, [had] raised at least $25 million [in 2024]."[5] Reuters reported that as of August 2024, none of the Rockbridge groups had "their own websites or much of a public footprint."[1]
Faithful in Action
Reuters reported that Faithful in Action was incorporated in 2023 in Wyoming, and that its "mission is to recruit churchgoers into political activism".[1] Chris Buskirk is president of the group.[1]
Firebrand Action
Firebrand Action handles "Rockbridge's efforts to influence journalism", according to Reuters.[1] The group was incorporated in Virginia in 2022. In October 2024, Reuters reported that state records listed Buskirk as the group's president, and James Blair as its secretary.[1] Reuters also said that James Blair had resigned from Firebrand before joining the Trump campaign.[1]
Voter turnout organizations
Rockbridge has at least two "get-out-the-vote operations", according to Reuters: Better Tomorrow (based in Virginia), and Over the Horizon (based in Washington).[1]
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History
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The Rockbridge Network was founded in 2019 by JD Vance and Chris Buskirk.[6] According to The New York Times, the organization started to form when "Buskirk began informally hosting a series of small dinners with the hopes of laying groundwork for Mr. Vance’s political career and, eventually, of building a Trump-aligned alternative to the Koch Network."[5] Rockbridge was reportedly named after Rockbridge, Ohio, where one of these early meetings was held in a resort.[5]
The group was first reported on in 2022 by The New York Times.[2] The Network held a meeting at Mar-a-Lago in 2022.[2]
At a 2022 summit, Chris Buskirk, Omeed Malik, and Rebekah Mercer reportedly "started discussing how to finance a 'parallel economy' of conservative businesses", and this discussion led to the founding of 1789 Capital.[1]
The Rockbridge Network had a significant budget for the 2024 U.S. elections.[1] In April 2024, Donald Trump called in to a meeting the group was hosting at Mar-a-Lago.[6] Donald Trump Jr. has also spoken with the group, as has James Blair, political director for the Trump campaign who would go on to become the White House Deputy Chief of Staff in the Donald Trump administration.[7][8]
After the 2024 election resulted in a win for Donald Trump, Rockbridge held their annual fall gathering. The New York Times reported that the electoral victory "made Rockbridge suddenly a hot ticket"[5] and that for some attendees the organization had raised the minumum price of attendance from USD$5,000 to $25,000.[5]
"Around the jubilant open bars and music-filled ballrooms, attendees openly traded notes on what Trump administration roles they might get and debated whether Mr. Musk was the world’s most powerful person."[5]
In June 2025, Rockbridge announced their plans to establish a regional division in Asia, called Rockbridge Asia.[9] The plans–which were not completely finalized at the time–included a regional headquarters in Seoul headed by Chung Yong-jin, a branch in Taiwan headed by Richard Tsai, and a branch in Japan headed by Tadashi Maeda.[9][10][11] Some publications noted that this plan coincided with the early days of the presidency of Lee Jae Myung,[9][11][12] and a reporter for The Korea Herald said that "[the] organization is expected to serve as a proxy diplomatic channel to Washington on key issues such as trade and defense, given its central base in Korea, adjacent to key US allies and China amid rising tensions."[9]
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Donors, members, and connections
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The group is backed by Silicon Valley figures, including some without a history of political donations or investments. Other funds come from traditional Republican donors looking for new, innovative organizations to give to.[6]
Major donors include Rebekah Mercer,[3][13][14] Tyler Winklevoss,[10][11] Cameron Winklevoss,[10][11] and Peter Thiel.[3][13] Vance and Thiel have a long history of working together, with Thiel backing many of Vance's commercial and political ventures.[15]
As of November 2024[update], Rockbridge membership costs ranged from USD$100,000 for a "limited partner" to USD$1,000,000 for a "principal partner", according to The New York Times.[5] As of 2023, the group had approximately 125 members;[8] this number had grown to about 150 by November 2024.[5] Notable members include JD Vance[3] and Omeed Malik.[1][3]
Rockbridge has held a number of meetings and conferences. Speakers at these events have included Donald Trump,[5][14] Donald Trump Jr.,[14] Tucker Carlson,[5] Marc Andreessen,[5][16] Blake Masters,[5] Steve Wynn,[5] David O. Sacks,[5][10] Woody Johnson,[5] Scott Bessent,[14] Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,[14] Tulsi Gabbard,[14] Steve Witkoff,[14] Susie Wiles,[1][16] Leonard Leo,[1] Palmer Luckey,[5] and Russell Brand.[14] The New York Times also reported that Tom Emmer was slated to speak at a Rockbridge conference in April 2022.[2]
Other affiliates include Marco Rubio,[11] Howard Lutnick,[11] Ken Howery,[5] and Luke Nosek.[5]
See also
References
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