Dark days for the coal industry have unearthed information on its political activities. Like so many coal companies,1 Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (ANR) recently filed for bankruptcy.2 The Intercept reported that creditor documents reveal the coal giant financed several nonprofit organizations challenging anthropogenic climate change theories.3 Such contributions are commonly referred to as “dark money” because the nonprofits were using that money on political spending. It was later discovered ANR also gave $18,600 to Chris Horner, an attorney and leading climate change skeptic.4 With ANR’s political donations now under the public microscope, the Institute looked closely at the the company’s contributions to state-level campaigns.
ANR gave $2.1 million directly to state-level candidates and political party committees from 2002 (the year the company was formed5) through 2014, the second-largest total from any coal industry contributor in the country during that period. The Institute’s analysis finds that ANR became a more active donor in recent elections, particularly in Virginia, and clearly favored Republican candidates, especially those running for statewide office. That said, it was generous to Democratic senate candidates in the run-up to and during the years of Democratic rule in the Senate of Virginia.
Mining for Contributions in Old Dominion
Most of of ANR’s $2.1 million (83 percent) in contributions went to candidates and committees in Virginia, where the company is headquartered. The remaining $369,468 from ANR primarily financed candidates and parties in other coal-rich states, including Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky, each home to ANR regional offices.6
Figure 1: National Overview of Alpha Natural Resources’ State-Level Contributions, 2002-2014
Naturally, the top recipients of ANR money were from Virginia. Two former Virginia attorneys general were the leading recipients in their gubernatorial campaigns: Jerry Kilgore topped the list with $192,140 when he unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2005; and Kenneth Cuccinelli II, the 2013 Republican nominee for governor, received $132,500, 77 percent of which came during his failed gubernatorial bid. Virginia’s former Governor Robert F. (Bob) McDonnell and Lieutenant Governor William T. (Bill) Bolling were also among the top five recipients of ANR money. Despite ANR’s record of success in contributing to legislative candidates who went on to win, the opposite is true for gubernatorial candidates: ANR gave to losers more than to winners by an almost 2:1 margin.
Former Virginia State Senator and Lieutenant Governor candidate Phillip P. Puckett received $82,250 from ANR—the third-largest total among all recipients—making him the company’s favorite Democrat. Puckett is notable for his abrupt and controversial resignation in 2014 that gave Republicans control of the state Senate. Contributions to Puckett alone accounted for nearly one-fifth of all ANR money to Democratic candidates since 2000. Excluding party contributions, ANR was Puckett’s most generous contributor, especially in his 2011 reelection when ANR gave him $55,000.
* This includes only candidacies that ANR contributed to. Some of these candidates ran for additional offices without receiving an ANR contribution.
Despite its recent financial woes, ANR’s campaign contributions have increased steadily in the last 13 years. Donations peaked at $453,121 in 2011, the last year in which an election was held for all 140 seats in the Virginia General Assembly. ANR delivered its second-largest annual total ($384,000) in 2013, the year of Virginia's last governor's race. The rise of ANR contributions is not limited to odd-numbered years when Virginia holds regularly-scheduled elections: ANR contributions in 2014 outpaced 2012 contributions by $64,363, and 2012 contributions surpassed 2010 donations by $49,081.
Figure 2: Alpha Natural Resources’ Annual State-Level Contribution Totals, 2002–2014
![ANR Giving by Year 2002 2014](assets/Uploads/_resampled/ResizedImage600394-ANR-Giving-by-Year-2002-2014.png)
Coal industry contributions since 2002 have chiefly benefited Republicans, and ANR’s political donations are no exception. Almost $1.6 million of ANR money went to Republican candidates and party committees, which accounts for about 74 percent of all state-level ANR contributions. A breakdown of its contributions by office finds a GOP advantage across the board. Republican gubernatorial candidates collected 88 percent more than their Democratic counterparts, while virtually all ANR contributions to candidates running for other statewide offices went to Republicans. GOP House candidates got 72 percent more than Democrats running for the lower chamber. ANR also gave twice as much to Republican party committees than Democratic party committees.
Figure 3: Alpha Natural Resources’ Contributions to Candidates and Political Party Committees, by Party Affiliation, 2002-2014
![ANR Coal by Party](assets/Uploads/_resampled/ResizedImage600574-ANR-Coal-by-Party.png)
There was some partisan parity in ANR contributions to state senate candidates, with $227,043 supporting Republicans and $212,742 going to Democrats. This should come as no surprise because the Democrats controlled the Senate of Virginia from 2008 to 2012, and again in 2014.7 In fact, ANR did not start contributing to Democratic senate candidates until 2007, the year in which the Democrats took control of Virginia’s upper legislative chamber.8 ANR was certainly partial to GOP candidates, but it still preferred to make safe bets in the state legislature, as 93 percent of its state legislative contributions went to the winner of the race.
Every seat in the Virginia General Assembly was on the 2015 ballot. Perhaps ANR expanded its support for Republican candidates in Virginia who successfully defended GOP control of the state senate, as fundraising was deemed critical for success in the 2015 election.9
In prior elections, ANR invested in some Democratic state senate candidates, but those contributions were largely in response to the political and legislative landscape unfolding in Virginia at the time. Its money going to gubernatorial and other statewide candidates in the past 15 years, as well as its federal contributions since 2012, reveal a distinct preference for Republicans.
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1 Carbon Tracker Initiative, “The US Coal Crash: Evidence for Structural Change,” March 2015, available from http://www.carbontracker.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/US-coal-designed-Web.pdf, accessed October 19, 2015.
2 Sandler, Linda, Tim Loh, Jodi Xu Klein and Laura J. Keller, “Coal Miner Alpha Natural Resources Files for Bankruptcy,” Bloomberg Business, August 3, 2015, available from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-03/coal-miner-alpha-natural-resources-files-for-bankruptcy, accessed October 19, 2015.
3 Fang, Lee, “Giant Coal Company Bankruptcy Reveals Secret Ties to Climate Denial, GOP Dark Money Groups,” The Intercept, August 25, 2015, available from https://theintercept.com/2015/08/25/coal-giant-bankruptcy-reveals-secret-ties-republican-dark-money-groups/, accessed October 19, 2015.
4 Fitzgerald, Patrick, “Alpha Natural Discloses Payments to Climate Change Skeptic Chris Horner,” The Wall Street Journal, October 15, 2015, available from http://blogs.wsj.com/bankruptcy/2015/10/15/alpha-natural-discloses-payments-to-climate-change-skeptic-chris-horner/, accessed October 19, 2015.
5 Galuszka, Pete, “ Alpha Natural Resources is in a fight for its life,” The Washington Post, July 24, 2015, available from https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/all-opinions-are-local/wp/2015/07/24/alpha-natural-resources-is-in-a-fight-for-its-life/, accessed November 2, 2015.
6 Alpha Natural Resources, “Locations,” available from http://www.alphanr.com/poweringthefuture/locations/Pages/default.aspx, accessed October 19, 2015.
7 Vozzella, Laura and Rachel Weiner, “Democrats take control of Virginia Senate,” The Washington Post, January 28, 2014, available from https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/democrats-seize-control-of-va-senate/2014/01/28/94b92664-8823-11e3-a5bd-844629433ba3_story.html, accessed October 20, 2015.
8 Shear, Michael D., “Va. Democrats Take Control of State Senate,” The Washington Post, November 7, 2007, available from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/06/AR2007110601036.html, acessed October 19, 2015.
9 Ress, Dave, “Hints about the war for control of Virginia’s state Senate,” Daily Press, January 30, 2015, available from http://www.dailypress.com/news/politics/shad-plank-blog/dp-virginia-politics-hints-about-the-war-for-control-of-the-state-senate-20150130-post.html, accessed October 20, 2015.
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