Chesapeake Execs Flood Roth With Cash

Executives and employees of Chesapeake Energy Corp., an entity whose activities are regulated by the Corporation Commission, poured at least $77,775 into the election campaign of Commissioner Jim Roth in the second quarter, an analysis of his latest campaign finance report shows.

The McCarville Report Online tallied donations from dozens of Chesapeake employees in the analysis, which also shows that Roth's campaign is, in large part, financed by those in industries the Corporation Commission regulates.

Chesapeake's leader, Aubrey McClendon, gave Roth, a Democrat, $5,000 and a long list of other company executives donated $1,000 each, Roth's report shows.

The total appears to be about 14.5 percent of the total $537,000 Roth reported he raised in the reporting period, which ended July 14th.

Among other donations is $2,500 from John Gibson of Tulsa, CEO of ONEOK.

Roth faces the winner of next Tuesday's Republican primary for the seat. The GOP candidates are Rep. Rob Johnson and Dana Murphy.

McClendon and other Chesapeake executives also donated $8,500 to Republican Commissioner Jeff Cloud for his reelection campaign. Cloud's report also shows a large part of his donations came from those in industries the Commission regulates.

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