Sporting Kansas City and its owners among the biggest Sam Brownback campaign donors

Sporting Kansas City, its owners and related entities pumped thousands of dollars into Sam Brownback’s re-election campaign, records show.

Neal Patterson and Cliff Illig, co-founders of Cerner Corp. and co-owners of Kansas City’s Major League Soccer team, each donated $2,000 to Brownback. Their wives also donated $2,000 apiece. 

Robb Heineman, CEO of Sporting Kansas City, chipped in $1,000. The team itself sent $2,000 Brownback’s way last year, as did Soccer Village Properties, an entity related to the soccer club. Finally, Illig Family Enterprise donated $2,000 to Brownback.

In all, they made up some of the largest related contributors to Brownback in 2013 as he mounts a re-election campaign against Democrat Paul Davis. Brownback raked in $1.1 million in contributions during 2013. Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer loaned the Brownback campaign $500,000, which, when added to the $519,349 in campaign cash that Brownback had entering 2013, gives the incumbent $2.1 million on hand going into the election year.

That doubles the money Davis has.

Other Kansas City-area interests pitched into Brownback’s coffers. They include:

* David Glass, Wal-Mart executive and owner of the Kansas City Royals
* Lathrop & Gage, local corporate law firm ($1,000)
* JE Dunn Construction, construction firm ($2,000)
* Peggy Dunn, Leawood mayor and wife of JE Dunn executive Terry Dunn ($1,000)
* Steve Dunn, JE Dunn executive ($1,000)
* McCown Gordon Construction ($2,000)
* Mike Copeland, Olathe mayor and deputy secretary of labor for Kansas ($250)
* Mike Bukaty, CEO of Kansas City employee benefits and insurance company Bukaty Companies ($2,000)
* Bukaty Companies ($2,000)
* Burns & McDonnell, Kansas City engineering firm ($2,000)
* Victor Cosentino, grocery executive ($1,200)
* Ken Block, real-estate broker and developer with Block Real Estate Services ($200)
* Block Real Estate Services ($1,000)
* Greg Musil, corporate attorney with Polsinelli ($1,000)
* Chase Simmons, real-estate and development attorney with Polsinelli ($1,000)
* Polsinelli, corporate law firm in Kansas City and Overland Park ($2,000)
* Kansas Speedway ($2,000)
* David Brain, CEO of EPR Properties, formerly Entertainment Properties Trust ($2,000)
* Alan Atterbury, CEO of Midland Properties Inc. ($2,000)
* Gary Forsee, former Sprint CEO and retired University of Missouri System president ($1,000)
* Kuhn Wittenborn, Kansas City advertising agency ($200)
* Digital Ally, law-enforcement surveillance equipment maker ($2,000)
* Fred Merrill, Leawood real-estate developer ($1,000)
* Kansas City Power & Light, electric utility ($2,000)
* Schlitterbahn, water-park developer in Kansas City, Kansas ($2,000)
* Stinson Street Leonard, corporate law firm formerly known as Stinson Morrison Hecker ($1,000)

Brownback also got plenty of cash from major companies based outside Kansas or the Kansas City area. They include:

* Eli Lilly, pharmaceutical giant ($2,000)
* Johnson & Johnson, pharmaceutical and consumer-goods conglomerate ($1,000)
* Exxon Mobile, oil company ($1,000)
* Amerigroup, health-insurance company and KanCare contractor ($1,000)
* Hewlett Packard, information-technology company ($2,000)
* Southwest Airlines ($2,000)
* Pfizer, pharmaceutical giant ($2,000)
* Wal-Mart, retailer ($2,000)
* Archer Daniels Midwest, agriculture company ($2,000)