I Hope You Did NOT Think We Left The "CESSPOOL" Alone. FAT CHANCE!

Workers in firms linked to Lawson gave $100K in elections

Ky. governor's race drew many $1,000 donations


FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Employees of companies closely associated with highway contractor Leonard Lawson made at least $100,000 in contributions during last year's campaign for governor.

Lawson, who has come under scrutiny in a federal investigation of bribery allegations, has long been a major force in political fundraising in Kentucky.

A review by The Courier-Journal of campaign finance records shows that Lawson, his wife Bonnie, their son Steve, and Steve's wife Suzanne combined to give a total of only $4,000 -- all very early in the 2007 primary campaign -- to incumbent Republican Ernie Fletcher. They gave nothing to Democrat Steve Beshear, the eventual winner.

But if contributions by employees of two Lawson road companies and a Corbin accounting firm that works for those companies are included, the total rises to at least $80,500 for Fletcher's primary and general election campaigns, and at least $19,500 for Beshear in the general election.

Former Republican gubernatorial candidate Larry Forgy said Lawson's involvement in fundraising typically extends well beyond the amount -- nearly $500,000 in the last decade -- that he and his family give.

"He consistently produces money from subcontractors and other people who work for him," Forgy said.

Lawson didn't respond to a request for comment made through Claire Nichols, a Louisville public relations executive who represents him.

Family contributions

Since Jan. 1, 1998, Lawson and his family have made $496,350 in campaign contributions, according to records of the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance and a data library of donations to federal candidates called Opensecrets.org.

Those contributions have gone to Democrats -- including state Rep. Greg Stumbo, U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler and Attorney General Jack Conway -- and to Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and Senate President David Williams.

And individuals associated with Lawson's businesses have supplemented the family's giving.

In last year's governor's race, most of the Lawson-related money -- and all of the early contributions -- went to Fletcher. Beshear got a smaller but significant amount in the general election campaign.

Consider the donations by individuals associated with Gaddie-Shamrock LLC, a road contracting firm based in Columbia that is partly owned by Lawson's son, Steve.

Twenty-two employees of the company or their immediate family members gave $1,000 each -- the maximum a person can give per candidate, per election -- to Fletcher's primary campaign. All but $1,000 of that came on the same date, Sept. 18, 2006, eight months before the May 22 primary.

In addition, individuals associated with Gaddie-Shamrock gave another $22,000 to Fletcher's general election campaign on July 14, 2007.

But later in the campaign, when Beshear had established himself as the front-runner, he got $11,000 from some of the same people.

Then there is The Allen Co., a Central Kentucky highway contracting firm also partly owned by Steve Lawson. Its officials and their family members gave $6,500 to Fletcher's primary campaign and $6,000 in the general election. They followed later with $4,500 to Beshear in the general election.

Marr, Miller & Myers is a Corbin certified public accounting firm that is the accountant for all Lawson road companies. Members of the firm and their families gave $10,000 in September 2006 to Fletcher's primary campaign. They gave $10,000 to him for the general election, and $4,000 to Beshear later in the race.

H.B. Gabbard and Richard Monohan, the top officials at The Allen Co., and Doug and Roy Beard, the top officials at Gaddie-Shamrock, could not be reached for comment Friday. Archie Marr, of Marr, Miller & Myers, did not return messages left at his office.

Employees of other businesses not as closely associated with Lawson gave in a similar fashion.

For example, individuals affiliated with Central Rock Mineral of Lexington, whose owners were partners of the Lawsons in a different road company, gave at least $17,000 to Fletcher in the primary, $16,000 early in the general election, and at least $15,000 later to Beshear.

Employees of subsidiaries of Oldcastle Materials, an international construction conglomerate that bought major construction holdings in Kentucky from Lawson in 2005, gave $26,000 to Fletcher in the primary, $46,500 to him in the general election and $36,250 later in the campaign to Beshear.

Jim Cauley, a Democratic political consultant who managed Beshear's campaign and recently left a job as his chief of staff, said that even though Fletcher was damaged by an investigation into his administration's personnel practices, it is not surprising that Lawson and other road contractors gave him big contributions early.

"He was the sitting governor," Cauley said. "Even a damaged sitting governor can raise money because you still have control of the purse strings."

Companies did well

And Lawson companies did well during the Fletcher administration.

Five companies in which Lawson has an ownership interest got more than $400 million in state highway contracts during 2006 and 2007, the last two years of the administration.

A database of contract awards compiled by The Courier-Journal shows that the state awarded $422 million in work to those companies -- accounting for about 20 percent of the $2.2 billion in highway contracts the state awarded over those two years.

In all, the Lawson companies received a total of 114 contracts.

The federal investigation, which is examining road contracting procedures during the Fletcher administration, appears to be focusing on some of that work. An FBI affidavit filed earlier this month in federal court alleged that Lawson paid $20,000 in cash to a state highway engineer who was helping leak confidential bid information on state contracts during 2006 and 2007. A grand jury has heard evidence in the case, but no one has been charged. The affidavit said an engineer in the Transportation Cabinet was directed by Lawson and then-Transportation Secretary Bill Nighbert to obtain the information.

Investigators said in the affidavit that they also are trying to determine whether Lawson has an interest in a Pikeville company that made a $36,050 payment to Nighbert earlier this year.

Lawson's attorney has called the affidavit "a collection of innuendo and suspicions," and Nighbert's attorney has said the allegations are false.

Reporter Tom Loftus can be reached at (502) 875-5136. Reporter Deborah Yetter contributed to this story.