It’s illegal under federal law for a corporation to give money to a candidate for Congress.
But it’s apparently not illegal for 18 executives of one corporation to all give to one candidate on the same day.
And so it is that 18 executives of EQT Corporation, one of the largest natural gas producers in the Appalachian Basin, donated a total of $11,750 to Nick Casey on September 26, 2013.
Nick Casey is the former chairman of the West Virginia Democratic Party and former treasurer to Senator and former Governor Joe Manchin’s campaigns.
And now Casey is running for Congress in the second Congressional district of West Virginia.
And he’s defending the practice of hydraulic fracturing — like his funders at EQT would want him to.
Casey is a corporate Democrat — and not just when it comes to the issue of fracking.
As a lobbyist, Casey represented the corporatist U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform, prompting some Democrats at the time to call for his resignation as chairman of the party. Casey was also a lobbyist for the Consumer Health Care Products Association.
Casey likely will face Republican Alex Mooney, a tea party candidate who will draw big out of state money.
Casey needs to keep Democrats in line and prevent them from peeling off to independent Ed Rabel, who is running for the same seat as an independent.
Given Casey’s track record as a corporate Democrat, it’s an open question as to why rank and file Democrats would support him.
Stephen Skinner (D-Jefferson County), one of the most liberal Democrats in the West Virginia House of Delegates, donated $1,000 to Casey’s campaign on July 16, 2013. Why? Skinner did not return calls seeking comment.