Washington, D.C.—Rep. Scott Tipton (R-Colo.) continued raising big bucks from Washington special interests in the first three months of 2012, according to Public Campaign analysis of Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings. In the first quarter of 2012, Tipton raised nearly $379,000, or on average, $31,600 a week.

“Scott Tipton hauled in money from Big Oil, the mining industry, and lots of special interests. He raised more money each week, on average, than many Coloradan families make in a year,” said David Donnelly, national campaigns director at Public Campaign. “If he's spending time courting Big Oil, who's looking out for his constituents?”

Key facts from Tipton’s fundraising report:

• Of the $378,927.83 Tipton reported raising in the first quarter of 2012, 30 percent came from corporate political action committees (PACs) and party committees.
• Less than 14 percent of Tipton’s money in the first quarter came in donations of $200 or less.
• Oil and gas industry PACs handed over thousands in contributions, including checks from Chevron ($3,000), Koch Industries ($2,000), BP ($1,000), and Valero ($1,000).
• Tipton also received mining industry money from the PACs of Arch Coal ($2,000), Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold ($2,000) and Oxbow Carbon ($1,000) owned by Bill Koch, the other Koch brother.

Tipton has a personal financial stake in both Exxon and Royal Dutch Shell, two companies that have lobbied for the approval of the Keystone Pipeline and fast tracking oil shale development in Tipton’s own district. Yesterday, Tipton voted for legislation that would approve the Keystone pipeline.

In March, Public Campaign launched a two-week television ad campaign highlighting freshman Rep Scott Tipton’s (R-Colo) oil industry money, asking whether he would continue to support wasteful industry subsidies. It’s available online at www.publicampaign.org/bigoil.

“The people of Colorado want members of Congress to focus on addressing our country’s problems, not raising money from wealthy special interests,” said Donnelly. “Tipton should support legislation like the Fair Elections Now Act that would put voters ahead of big campaign donors.”

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Public Campaign is a national nonpartisan organization that fights to raise the voices of everyday people in our democracy through changing our campaign finance laws and through holding elected officials accountable. Learn more at www.publicampaign.org.