KTOK: Oil, Gas Donors Boost Corporation Commission Campaigns of Cloud, Murphy

By Jerry Bohnen/NewsRadio 1000 KTOK ~ Republican Corporation Commission candidate Dana Murphy knows she has a mountain to climb when it comes to raising the kind of money collected by the man she wants to unseat, Democrat Jim Roth.

She had only $35,000 on hand after winning the primary.

A review of her campaign records as of mid-July showed that nearly a third of her contributors were from the oil and gas industry that would fall under her regulation if she were to win the seat now held by Roth. And those same oil and gas contributions made up about two-thirds of the money raised by Murphy.

Of the 313 donors to her campaign, 104 were from the oil and gas industry and they contributed more than $66,000 out of the total campaign contributions of $93,000.

Murphy's campaign is no different than any of the candidates for the corporation commission.

Their campaign reports reflect much the same--a growing movement by those in energy industry to flow money into the campaigns. Many energy companies see it as hedging their bets on which candidate will be successful.

Meanwhile, a review of campaign contributions to date of Republican Corporation Commissioner Jeff Cloud's re-election bid shows more than half of his contributors are in the oil and gas industry.

Of the 237 individual contributions listed for the July report, 150 came from oil and gas people. They gave $202,000 to Cloud who listed a total of $260,000 in campaign contributions.

A check of the contributions also showed that 32 of the contributors worked for OG&E and its gas supply subsidiary Enogex. There were 14 contributors who listed as being employed by ONEOK and its subsidiary ONG. Chesapeake Energy had five employees who contributed to Cloud's campaign.

Of the 28 contributors who were listed as giving the $5,000 maximum allowed under law, only four were not from oil and gas people.

As for Murphy, her campaign reports showed she loaned herself $10,000 for the race and received nearly $5,000 of in-kind contributions. Most in-kind contributions came from Murphy because she paid for gas, receptions and food, advertising, office furniture and postage.

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