the possibility of defeating incumbent President Barack Obama was a major component of Friess's decision to back Santorum's campaign. Friess reportedly considered major contributions to American Crossroads, the Superpac founded by Republican National Committee chair Ed Gillespie and former George W. Bush White House strategist Karl Rove. Friess also donated $100,000 to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to help defeat the Democrats' recall effort in 2011. He reportedly invested more than $3 million in conservative commentator Tucker Carlson's The Daily Caller website. At one of the semi-annual, private seminars held by the Koch brothers in June 2011, Friess was recognized for his donation exceeding $1 million to the Kochs' political activities. While being interviewed by NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell regarding contraception, Friess said, "And this contraceptive thing, my gosh, it's so – it's such – inexpensive, you know, back in my days, they used Bayer Aspirin for contraception. The gals put it between their knees and it wasn't that costly." Friess was also an advisor to Turning Point USA, a conservative youth organization to which he donated seed money. In October 2017, Friess said he was exploring a possible candidacy for the Senate challenging Wyoming Senator John Barrasso for the Republican nomination, at the request of Steve Bannon. However, in April 2018, he instead decided to enter the crowded Republican field to replace term-limited Governor Matt Mead. Friess was defeated in the primary, coming in second to State Treasurer Mark Gordon by 38,951 votes (33%) to 29,842 (25.3%). Philanthropy Friess and his wife ran the Friess Family Foundation, which declares its activities as including the support of Christian mobile medical services, sponsoring Water Mission's work to provide clean water in Malawi, and donating to relief and recovery efforts following natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, the 2004 Indonesian tsunami, and the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Friess sponsored a matching grant program to raise $2 million for relief efforts for the 2004 Indonesian tsunami and traveled to the areas most affected by the earthquake and tsunami in order to speak with local church and organization leaders to identify the best efforts to support. He sponsored another matching grant for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, raising more than $4 million. He supported a YMCA development in Maryvale, Arizona, along with several local mentoring and ministry programs. He was the principal donor behind the Friess Family Community Campus, a $3.7 million complex equipped with football, baseball,