Source:
The Columbus DispatchThere's the guy who became a billionaire selling dog food, a couple of sports-team owners and the developer of an international spy museum.
That's not to mention the convicted felon, the business leader who was the main financier of Bob Ney's defense fund before the former Heath congressman went to federal prison, or the cowboy-hat-wearing industrialist who supports a mysterious out-of-state entity now delinquent in paying a record $5.2 million election fine in Ohio.
They are among an esoteric baker's dozen of individuals and families who have led the way in bankrolling Ohio political campaigns during the past decade. Together, those 13 deep-pocketed donors poured more than $25 million into state races since 2000.
Despite limits placed on campaign contributions in the mid-1990s, Ohioans just witnessed the most expensive gubernatorial campaign in state history. In fact, every statewide nonjudicial race this year broke spending records, some of which had stood for 20 years.
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http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/12/19/big-donors-fuel-campaign-fundraising-surge.html?sid=101