If the multi-billionaire right-wing Koch brothers are attempting to buy our democracy, they've already purchased themselves a shiny bauble in the form of Washington State Republican Party chair Kirby Wilbur.

Before his ouster of former WSRP chair Luke Esser, Wilbur served as the state director of the Washington chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a Koch-funded front group that funneled millions of dollars into local races nationwide, much of it without proper disclosure. In fact, Wilbur and the AFP are currently being investigated by Washington's Public Disclosure Commission for failing to file any financial disclosure reports until after the 2010 election. That kinda secrecy and subterfuge is business as usual for the Koch's who also quietly funded much of the operations of the allegedly grassroots Tea Party. (As a KVI talk radio host, Wilbur, who also sits on the board of the Koch-funded Young America's Foundation, was an early promoter of local Tea Party instigator Keli Carender.)

Now, with Koch-crony Wilbur leading the state GOP, we can only expect their recent investment in Washington state politics to grow, even if we don't always learn about it until way after the fact. And it's Wilbur's job to help the Kochs get a substantial return on their investment in the form of lower taxes, reduced regulation and fewer workers rights, not to mention the Koch's nationwide campaign to destroy Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the rest of our social safety net.

Washington voters need to remember who Koch-suckers like Wilbur are working for as we head into a 2012 election in which Republicans have a legitimate shot at winning control of both the governor's mansion and the state senate.