Alaska lawmakers atop list of lobbyist largesse

WASHINGTON -- An analysis of campaign contributions by the government watchdog group Public Citizen says Washington, D.C., lobbyists are big political donors, and that Alaska's delegation to Congress scoops up more of that money per lawmaker than any other state's.

That's because Alaska has only a three-member team, and two of the members are Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young, among the most powerful members of Congress. Stevens was chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Young is chairman of the House Transportation Committee.

Since 1998, Washington lobbyists have contributed $663,000 to Stevens' campaign and his political action committee, making him their tenth-most favored senator. Young was tenth-most favored in the House, with $652,448, according to the Public Citizen analysis.

"What it tells me is lobbyists are trying to influence Don Young and Ted Stevens," said Taylor Lincoln, the primary author of the report.
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