![]() Robert Gray, an official of WB Transport who has given $30,000 to the Kentucky Democratic Party and $2,000 to Beshear’s campaign in the past 18 months, hung up when asked about his contributions. Jennifer Weddle, identified in contribution reports as manager of The Depot on Main, Corbin, donated $15,000 to the Kentucky Democratic Party and $2,000 to the Beshear campaign in December. “I donated because I wanted to,” said Jennifer Weddle, declining further comment. Others among the group of WB Transport/Weddle donors who were contacted by phone shed little light on how the contributions all came about. But he has made smaller contributions to other Republicans: $2,000 to the campaign of Republican Jonathan Shell for agriculture commissioner last year, and in 2019 gave $2,800 to the re-election committees of U.S. Weddle is registered as a Republican and in late 2020 and early 2021 he gave $25,120 to a pro-Donald Trump committee. Basically, that’s the only guy that I’ve given to. We’ll have a superpower if Beshear don’t win,” Weddle said.Īs to why he did not give, Weddle said, “I only gave to Trump. Given the dominance of the Republican Party in the General Assembly, he said it is important that Beshear be re-elected. “Everybody we know, who my wife talks to, they all support Beshear entirely.” “Everybody you’ve named has money…” Weddle said of his family and associates who gave. Weddle warned against drawing false conclusions. Only two of the 19 donors in the WB/Weddle group had ever before made a political contribution, and those were very small, according to online records of the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance and Federal Election Commission. It is illegal for a person to exceed the donation limits by making excess contributions in the names of other people. “It happens in every race across this nation – that friends, families that get together, that give to the person they believe in with no special interest.”Įach contribution listed in reports is within legal limits of how much a person can give, though nearly all were at the limits: $15,000 per year to the party and $2,000 to Beshear’s primary election campaign.īundling political contributions is legal as long as the contribution is voluntary and the contributor is not reimbursed for the donation. “What is wrong with that – if you believe in the individual and you believe that they’re good for the state?” Weddle asked. And he said there is no reason to question the contributions. But he said he doesn’t even know some of the current WB Transport employees who were donors. ![]() He said he is aware that his wife, other family members and some close friends are enthusiastic supporters of Beshear and donated. He said he sold WB Transport and its related reverse logistics company about two years ago. Randall Weddle, who won election as mayor of London last November in his first bid for public office, said he had no role in raising the money. The process takes the product backward on the supply chain with the goal of retaining as much value as possible for resale at a discount by wholesale, liquidation, or “pallet sales” stores. “Reverse logistics” is a term applied to the processes that follow many products after they have been returned by customers to the retailer. Steve Beshear: state employees, Beshear appointees to state boards and commissions, law firms, state contractors, and businesses closely regulated by the state like Churchill Downs and Kentucky Downs.īut the analysis found surprising groups of new donors – clusters of big givers with links to the reverse logistics trade from Kentucky, Kansas City, and coast to coast. The examination found big contributions from many groups that donated to past campaigns of Beshear and his father, former Gov. Kentucky Lantern examined those contributions - names and occupations of donors, the amounts they gave and on what date - to identify groups of associated donors who have given the most. These contributions can be found on the websites of the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance and the Federal Election Commission.īut the online listings are voluminous, the websites difficult to navigate. Kentucky Lantern decided to take a closer look at who gave the money that provided the popular sitting governor with a massive fundraising lead over Republican rivals in this year’s race for governor.Ĭandidates and political parties are required by law to disclose the names of donors and the amounts they gave. 3, Beshear’s reelection campaign put out a news release boasting it had raised a record $5.2 million and stressing the importance of the fundraising success of the Kentucky Democratic Party. $68,000 from four members of the family that owns H & K Pallet Sales, of London.$168,162 from 33 donors employed by liquidation and discount outlets across the country – donors from Hickory, North Carolina to Fontana, California.
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