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Joe Craft
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| Joe Craft | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Organization: | Alliance Resource Partners |
| Role: | President, CEO and director |
| Location: | Tulsa, Okla. |
| Affiliation: | Republican |
| Education: | University of Kentucky |
Joe Craft is a major political donor nationally and in the state of Oklahoma. Originally from Kentucky, Craft is the CEO of Alliance Resource Partners, "a diversified coal producer and marketer" with operations in Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia and Maryland.[1] Craft lives in Tulsa, Okla.
Career
After graduating from the University of Kentucky with both an undergraduate degree and a law degree, Joe Craft began working in the coal industry as assistant general counsel for MAPCO in 1980. He became the company's president in 1987.[2] Since 1999, he has been the president of Alliance Resource Partners and the majority owner of the group's managing general partner.[3]
Craft is a prominent political donor to Republican candidates and conservative Super PACs. According to the Center for Public Integrity, Craft donated $1 million to Restore Our Future—a Super PAC in support of Mitt Romney (R) and $3.4 million to American Crossroads—the Super PAC founded by Karl Rove—during the 2012 election cycle. At the same time, Craft and his wife donated over $800,000 to a number of candidates and party committees.[4] During 2012, Craft was a finance co-chair for Romney's Kentucky campaign.
In addition to political donations, Craft is a prominent donor to the University of Kentucky. He has donated $6 million to fund a practice facility for the basketball team and arranged an $8 million donation for the Wildcat Coal Lodge, the housing specifically designed for the basketball team.[5]
Top influencers by state
Influencers in American politics are power players who help get candidates elected, put through policy proposals, cause ideological changes, and affect popular perceptions. They can take on many forms: politicians, lobbyists, advisors, donors, corporations, industry groups, labor unions, single-issue organizations, nonprofits, to name a few.
In 2015, Ballotpedia identified Joe Craft as a top influencer by state. We identified top influencers across the country through several means, including the following:
- Local knowledge of our professional staff
- Surveys of activists, thought leaders and journalists from across the country and political spectrum
- Outreach to political journalists in each state who helped refine our lists
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Joe Craft'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Alliance Resource Partners, LP, "About Us," accessed December 1, 2015
- ↑ Forbes, "Joseph Craft, III and Family," accessed December 1, 2015
- ↑ Alliance Resource Partners, LP, "Our Leadership Team," accessed December 1, 2015
- ↑ Center for Public Integrity, "Donor Profile: Joe Craft," January 30, 2013
- ↑ Lexington Herald-Leader, "Billionaire Joe Craft at nexus of Kentucky basketball, coal and politics," September 18, 2012
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