Big Pork Has Given $272,000 to House Republicans Who Voted in Favor of Hog-Farm-Protection Bill

The INDY has previously reported that state Representative JimmyDixon—who has received $115,000 in campaign contributions from the pork industry—is the chief sponsor of a controversial hog-farm-protection bill that passed its second reading in the House Thursday under strange circumstances. And if you’ve been following this story, you know that HB 467 would protect hog farmers from myriad legal claims, including twenty-six active lawsuits filed against Murphy-Brown LLC, the hog division of China-owned Smithfield Foods.

But of the sixty-four people who voted in favor of the measure Thursday (the vast majority of whom are Republican), Dixon is far from the only person who has been a beneficiary of Big Pork’s generosity.

Bill cosponsors John Bell and David Lewis have also received money tied to people who would be helped out should HB 467 become law. Bell, the House majority leader, has received $5,000 from the N.C. Pork Council, $1,000 from Smithfield Foods, $5,000 from Dixon, and $1,850 from people with ties to Goldsboro Milling, the tenth-largest hog producer in the nation. And Lewis got $15,500 from the Pork Council, $4,750 from Murphy-Brown stakeholders, $9,500 from Prestage Farms, and $7,000 from Smithfield.

Here are the cumulative Big Pork contributions for every Republican who voted yes:

• John Bell (R-Craven, Greene, Lenoir, Wayne)—$12,850

• Justin Burr (R- Montgomery, Stanly)—$1,000

• Jimmy Dixon (R-Duplin, Wayne)—$115,000

• Josh Dobson (R-Avery, McDowell, Mitchell)—$750

• Nelson Dollar (R-Wake)—$5,050

• John Fraley (R-Iredell)—$500

• Kyle Hall (R-Rockingham, Stokes)—$500

• Jon Hardister (R-Guilford)—$500

• D. Craig Horn (R-Union)—$500

• Julia Howard (R-Davie, Forsyth)—$7,150

• Patricia Hurley (R-Randolph)—$1,250

• Francis Iler Jr. (R-Brunswick—$13,750

• Linda Johnson (R-Cabarrus)—$3,500

• Jonathan Jordan (R-Ashe, Watauga)—$4,500

• Donny Lambeth (Forsyth)—$500

• David Lewis (R-Harnett)—$36,500

• Susan Martin (R-Pitt, Wilson)—$1,000

• Pat McElraft (R-Carteret, Jones)—$1,500

• Allen Ray McNeil (R-Moore, Randolph)—$500

• Tim Moore (R-Cleveland)—$44,650

• Larry Pittman (R-Cabarrus)—$500

• Michele Presnell (R-Haywood, Madison, Yancey)—$2,500

• Dennis Patrick Riddell (R-Alamance)—$500

• Jason Saine (R-Lincoln)—$2,000

• Mitchell Setzer (R-Catawba)—$600 • Bob Steinburg (R-Camden, Chowan, Curritck, Pasquotank, Perquimas, Tyrrell)—$4,250

• Sarah Stevens (R-Surry, Wilkes)—$750

• Larry Craig Strickland (R-Johnston)—$750

• John David Szoka (R-Cumberland)—$10,000

• John Torbett (R- Gaston)—$250

• Rena Turner (R-Iredell)—$1,000

• Donna White (R-Johnston)—$500

• Walter Lee Zachary Jr (R-Alexander, Wilkes, Yadkin)—$500

In total, Big Pork has contributed more than $272,000 to the campaigns of those who voted Thursday to protect the industry. The Pork Council, which donated at least $500 to each of these people, doesn’t think the bill is such a big deal.

Should this bill make it through the House and then the Senate and heads to Roy Cooper’s desk, things could get interesting. Why? Because the governor has received $21,500 from Smithfield stakeholders, too.