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Former boss' conservative associates donating to Bennet
By Michael Riley and Burt Hubbard
March
19, 2010 Colorado billionaire Phil Anschutz is famous for embracing conservative causes, but he also is a friend and former boss of Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet's. While Anschutz is officially backing Bennet's GOP opponent, Jane Norton, companies that Anschutz now owns and companies that were once keystones to his fortune are strongly backing Bennet — often upending their normal patterns of political giving. Through the end of 2009, executives and family members associated with Anschutz Co., Anschutz Group or Anschutz Investments donated more to Bennet — $39,400 — than to any other federal candidate. Executives from Qwest and, more unusually, Union Pacific — companies in which Anschutz once had large holdings but has recently divested — and PACs associated with them have added another $67,800 to Bennet's war chest. The $40,500 contributed by UP executives and the company's political action committee is more than twice the total received by any other federal candidate, despite the fact that Bennet has no particular connection to federal transportation policy. The company's second-most-favored candidate, U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., is a senior member of the House Transportation Committee. Anschutz spokesman Jim Monaghan declined to comment for this story beyond noting his boss' support of Norton. The billionaire and his family have contributed $15,800 to her campaign so far, part of a long-standing trend of supporting Republicans. According to Bennet campaign manager
Craig Hughes, the donations by Anschutz's employees or from
companies once strongly associated with him have little to do
with Anschutz or even Bennet's former job restructuring ailing
theater chains for "As with many people Michael meets as he's been running for Senate, they're drawn to his background of public experience and private-sector experience," Hughes said. Denver-based Qwest has a history of
giving generously to But there is little recent precedence for UP executives giving significant amounts to a Democrat in a Colorado Senate race. In 2008, UP officials gave $2,300 to Republican Bob Schaffer but nothing to Democrat Mark Udall. In 2004, neither Republican Pete Coors nor Democrat Ken Salazar received donations from the company's employees.
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