Billionaire fracking brothers top donors to Montana political campaigns
Source: Associated Press
Two billionaire brothers who made a fortune in the fracking industry and have begun buying up eastern Montana land were the top donors to successful 2012 legislative candidates, according to a new report from the National Institute on Money in State Politics.
The Helena-based organization tabulated the more than 60,000 individual donations, worth more than $10 million, to 379 candidates for state offices from governor on down last year. A recent report released by the group focused on donations to state legislative candidates, whose donations don't receive as much scrutiny as candidates for governor and higher offices.
It found that the largest donor to legislative candidates was Dan and Farris Wilks and their wives, who all list Texas as home. The group donated to more than 70 candidates, all Republicans, and generally gave the maximum contribution allowed by law to legislative candidates, $160 for a general election. The total exceeded $51,000.
... The Wilks brothers have gained attention in Montana for their land-buying spree that has made them among the largest owners of land in the state, collecting more than 200,000 acres of ranch and other land in the central and eastern parts of the state, according to a December profile in the Billings Gazette. The brothers were raised in a working-class family and then made a fortune in the oil and fracking business.
Read more: http://missoulian.com/elections_2012/state/billionaire-fracking-brothers-top-donors-to-montana-political-campaigns/article_f8c249ae-7395-11e2-b118-0019bb2963f4.html
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and they have also been buying up thousands of acres of land and running elk herds onto their properties for selective (canned), paid hunting ventures (using the public's wildlife) as well as confiscating water rights and generally fucking up the place while paying off our politicians, including our DINOs in the Senate, and commanding them to lobby for the Keystone XL pipeline using the tired old lie that long term jobs will be created.
