Catalyst

Leading industry executives are lining up to support the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign of Republican Mitt Romney, according to a review of contributions filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC; Washington). Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts and co-founder of private equity firm Bain Capital, has an impressive roster of industry support.
All four of ACC’s 2007 officers have contributed to Romney’s campaign: Andrew Liveris, Dow Chemical chairman and CEO and ACC board chairman; Robert Wood, Chemtura chairman and CEO as well as chair of ACC’s executive committee; David Weidman, Celanese chairman and CEO and ACC board vice chair; and Jack Gerard, ACC president and CEO. Gerard is also serving as a national finance co-chair for Romney. Several other executives have also contributed to Romney.
Romney’s positions on education, energy, and research sync well with views of many in industry. An energy position paper issued by Romney calls for “efforts related to conservation and efficiency measures, developing alternative sources of energy like biodiesel, ethanol, nuclear, and coal gasification, and finding more domestic sources of oil such as in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve or the Outer Continental Shelf.”
Romney also supports greater investment in materials research. “Corporations today spend more on tort liability than they do on R&D,” another Romney position paper states. “While the government already invests heavily in defense, space, and health technologies, it is time to invest substantially in technologies related to power generation, nanotechnology, and materials science.”
Support is not unanimous, however. Nova Chemicals chairman and CEO Jeff Lipton has contributed to both Romney and Republican presidential candidate Rudolph Guiliani, the former mayor of New York City, according to FEC filings. Rohm and Haas chairman and CEO Raj Gupta, meanwhile, has contributed to the campaign of leading Democratic contender Hillary Clinton.