Tobacco groups gave $355k to Burr

Submitted by ryanteaguebeckwith on March 23, 2009 - 8:46am.
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Tobacco interests have given U.S. Sen. Richard Burr $355,000.

Since he was elected to Congress in 1995, the Winston-Salem Republican has received substantial money from tobacco companies and employees.

He was second only to Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who has accepted $390,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Burr's biggest contributor, with $194,000, is R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and its parent company, which are based in Winston-Salem.

"Senator Burr has represented the state for a long time, either in the Senate or the House, and I think through that long representation he has done an excellent job of being receptive to business issues of all types," said Maura Payne, a spokeswoman for Reynolds American. "Given that receptivity, we have supported his campaigns."

Burr and Sen. Kay Hagan co-sponsored a bill that would create a new agency to regulate tobacco, an alternative to a more popular bill to put the Food and Drug Administration in charge of oversight.

Update: Hagan received $19,450 from tobacco contributors in 2008. (Char-O)

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Re: Tobacco groups gave $355k to Burr

Submitted by CitizenOpinionated on April 16, 2009 - 8:28am.

Please don't...

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Re: Tobacco groups gave $355k to Burr

Submitted by Gosh (not verified) on April 16, 2009 - 7:55am.

I may need to quit smoking.

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Re: Tobacco groups gave $355k to Burr

Submitted by lpetrou on March 23, 2009 - 4:15pm.

This a dog bites man story. Reynolds is located in North Carolina, tobacco is a legal product, "big tobacco" employs many people in the state, so what is the problem. On average Senator Burr received $23,000 a year; Kay Hagan received $19,450 from tobacco companies last year, not that much less than Burr received a year. I would expect them to contribute to both senators and the congressmen, just as I would expect to see the auto companies contributing to the Michigan congressmen or coal companies to those from West Virginia. If they didn't contribute, that would be the story.

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Re: Tobacco groups gave $355k to Burr

Submitted by ryanteaguebeckwith on March 23, 2009 - 11:11am.

Good point. I added it.

— RTB 

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Re: Tobacco groups gave $355k to Burr

Submitted by CitizenOpinionated on March 23, 2009 - 11:06am.

Ryan - how come you did not post Hagan's campaign contributions from Tobacco on his post?

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Re: Tobacco groups gave $355k to Burr

Submitted by CitizenOpinionated on March 23, 2009 - 9:09am.

It is also worth noting that Kay Hagan has received over $8,000 in her first election cycle from tobacco companies. More alarming is the $19,000 in campaign contributions received by the Hagan campaign from Bank of America.

Reported here...
http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/hagan_outraged_over_aig_bonuses#comment

If she is so outraged, then she should show some leadership in the US Senate and return that money, since it is nothing short of our taxpaying dollars as well.

Yet, she voted on the Stimulus Package that included the AIG bonus money. I even called her office and asked if they read the bill and they told me most of it and that Hagan would review the modifications in the bill before voting...I guess that one just slipped under the radar. This is also very ironic since Hagan co-sponsored an amendment limiting executive pay a mere week earlier.

If only the News and Observer would do some investigative reporting...

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