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Coal Workers Among Largest Donors To 3 Candidates

By Associated Press

Louisville, KY – Alliance Coal employees were among the biggest donors in Kentucky's primary election campaign, according to a newspaper report.

The Courier-Journal reviewed campaign contributions that candidates filed with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance and found that 10 employees of Alliance, along with their spouses, donated a total of $60,000 to three candidates: Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes for secretary of state; Republican Todd P'Pool for attorney general; and Republican David Williams for governor.

Cason P. Carter, a spokesman for Alliance, said it is up to employees whether to be politically active.

The campaigns said they believe the candidates received the contributions because of their support for the coal industry.

State government closely regulates the environmental impact and safety of coal mining.

The newspaper reviewed contributions to candidates running for statewide office since November's general election. It found that the contributions, which were given to the candidates between early March and early May, put Alliance employees in the company of wealthy businessmen and party activists. Only four other couples gave more to the candidates, according to the review.

It was the first time half of the couples had given more than $100 to a candidate for state office, according a Kentucky Registry of Election Finance database.

Kentucky law limits personal political contributions to $1,000 per election for candidates seeking state office. Sometimes, however, employees working for the same company contribute to a candidate at roughly the same time. It's known as "bundling" and is legal as long as employees aren't reimbursed.

"I don't think it's unusual for a company that has over 2,400 employees in Kentucky to have a dozen or so employees who have contributed to political campaigns," Carter said.

Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics in Washington, said it is not unusual for contributions to be bundled.

"However, bundling can be used to make an end-run around the contribution limits to gain special access and influence on behalf of a particular individual, company or industry," Krumholz said. ". Big contributions usually represent investments in shaping electoral and policy outcomes because donors know that government policy can be skewed to favor the money over the merits of a decision."

The Courier-Journal was able to contact six of the 10 couples who made the contributions. Generally, they told the newspaper they supported candidates who share their values or who support the coal industry. They said they didn't know why other Alliance employees gave contributions to the same candidates at the same time.

"We just decided that was something that was important to us - to get people that we felt followed our same beliefs and stand behind them," said Elizabeth Brock of Frankfort, whose husband, Jeff, is an Alliance executive.

Shelly Adelman of Morganfield, said she and her husband, William, wanted to "support candidates that we think will fight back."

Marian Pryor of Boonville, Ind., who is the wife of Aric Pryor, the president of an Alliance subsidiary, said she gives "to candidates all over the United States because I am pretty politically active. I give money to candidates who I think support what I believe."