Term-Limited Johnnie Crutchfield Is Legislature's Cash King And He's Giving Campaign Money Away
Democratic State Senator Johnnie Crutchfield of Ardmore, term-limited and elected in 2006 without an opponent, has found a way to use the huge campaign war chest he amassed during and since that no-contest election: He's giving it away.
Crutchfield, a rancher with spreads in Carter and Pittsburgh counties, was elected to the Senate in 1998 and must leave in 2010. He's now co-chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, a position that traditionally generates signficant donations.
So it has been for Crutchfield. Today, he sits on a campaign fund of more than $251,000, tops among all legislators in terms of cash on hand.
Crutchfield had a Republican opponent in 2002; he won by a margin of about 3-to-1. By the end of 2006, his campaign fund held more than $261,000 even though he had no opponent that election year. In 2007, his reports to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission show, he's spent almost $60,000, most of it going to support charities and events in communities and schools throughout District 14.
Crutchfield's use of campaign funds to support charities and local events became evident in 2006. In that year, he made donations to support rural and volunteer fire departments, including those in Dickson, Springer, Fox-Graham, Marietta, Gene Autry and Wilson. He gave money to buy Christmas fruit boxes, support a battered women's shelter and a sheriff's department, and donated to support high school basketball tournaments, holiday festivals, a high school softball team, buy playground equipment, buy newspaper subscriptions for schools and help local rodeos. He also donated to the Oklahoma Education Televison Authority and to the Lone Grove and Marietta Future Farmers of America programs.
This year, he's donated campaign funds to Friends of Scouting, Dickson School, high school basketball tournaments, agriculture booster clubs, 4H and FFA programs, charity golf tournaments, a high school band, an Easter Egg hunt, a livestock show, the Healdton Relay for Life event, a local library, a pet spray/neuter program, Shriner's Hospital and a "Kids Day In the Park." He also donated money to buy pies and sponsor a fish fry in community fundraising events. His largest donation was $2,500 to help repair the Healdton Municipal swimming pool.
The donors who have made Crutchfield's largess possible include a wide range of individuals and political action committees; included are familiar names, those who frequently show up on legislative campaign reports with significant sums, and names that aren't familiar, donors who gave Crutchfield relatively small amounts. Almost every political action committee registered with the Ethics Commission donated to Crutchfield at one time or another.
Crutchfield was an Ardmore public school teacher for 28 years before winning the Senate seat. He served as an Ardmore city councilman and mayor and has been involved in numerous local organizations. He's a life member of the National Rifle Association and has been honored for his conservation efforts. In 2001, the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association named him its Legislator Of The Year and the Oklahoma Troopers Association did the same in 2002.
Crutchfield, a rancher with spreads in Carter and Pittsburgh counties, was elected to the Senate in 1998 and must leave in 2010. He's now co-chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, a position that traditionally generates signficant donations.
So it has been for Crutchfield. Today, he sits on a campaign fund of more than $251,000, tops among all legislators in terms of cash on hand.
Crutchfield had a Republican opponent in 2002; he won by a margin of about 3-to-1. By the end of 2006, his campaign fund held more than $261,000 even though he had no opponent that election year. In 2007, his reports to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission show, he's spent almost $60,000, most of it going to support charities and events in communities and schools throughout District 14.
Crutchfield's use of campaign funds to support charities and local events became evident in 2006. In that year, he made donations to support rural and volunteer fire departments, including those in Dickson, Springer, Fox-Graham, Marietta, Gene Autry and Wilson. He gave money to buy Christmas fruit boxes, support a battered women's shelter and a sheriff's department, and donated to support high school basketball tournaments, holiday festivals, a high school softball team, buy playground equipment, buy newspaper subscriptions for schools and help local rodeos. He also donated to the Oklahoma Education Televison Authority and to the Lone Grove and Marietta Future Farmers of America programs.
This year, he's donated campaign funds to Friends of Scouting, Dickson School, high school basketball tournaments, agriculture booster clubs, 4H and FFA programs, charity golf tournaments, a high school band, an Easter Egg hunt, a livestock show, the Healdton Relay for Life event, a local library, a pet spray/neuter program, Shriner's Hospital and a "Kids Day In the Park." He also donated money to buy pies and sponsor a fish fry in community fundraising events. His largest donation was $2,500 to help repair the Healdton Municipal swimming pool.
The donors who have made Crutchfield's largess possible include a wide range of individuals and political action committees; included are familiar names, those who frequently show up on legislative campaign reports with significant sums, and names that aren't familiar, donors who gave Crutchfield relatively small amounts. Almost every political action committee registered with the Ethics Commission donated to Crutchfield at one time or another.
Crutchfield was an Ardmore public school teacher for 28 years before winning the Senate seat. He served as an Ardmore city councilman and mayor and has been involved in numerous local organizations. He's a life member of the National Rifle Association and has been honored for his conservation efforts. In 2001, the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association named him its Legislator Of The Year and the Oklahoma Troopers Association did the same in 2002.
Labels: Johnnie Crutchfield
posted by Mike McCarville @ 12:21 AM
<< Home