Campaign Contributions | Video

Jessica Roose | 8/2/2012

Claims that two Public Service Commissioners have accepted campaign contributions from companies and executives that they regulate have come up several times over the last year. A Democrat running for a commission seat says Kevin Cramer and Brian Kalk are in violation of the state`s bribery statute.

Brad Crabtree says Kalk and Cramer have accepted more than $80,000 from those companies. He says the Bribery Statute needs to be enforced and members of the PSC and candidates should be required to file a separate campaign disclosure form detailing every contribution received from groups regulated by the commission.

"I took two contributions myself in 2010 that are from regulated entities. Now one doesn`t have operations or limited operations in North Dakota. But that was where I started to think about this," he said.

Crabtree says he would recuse himself from any case in which he could have a conflict of interest because of financial contributions and says other commissioners should also.

Cramer and Kalk say the contributions are not illegal and such claims are politically motivated.

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