He is chairman of Leucadia National Corp., a financial firm. He and extended members of his family are also principles in Powder Corp., which operates several ski areas including the Park City Mountain Resort.

EnergySolutions/Envirocare

EnergySolutions, known as Envirocare until its recent sale, is a political player no matter who owns it. That has helped it navigate potential political hurdles to thrive as it operates a low-level nuclear and hazardous waste disposal facility in Tooele County.

Its current president is Steve Creamer. He ranks No. 11 on the list of individual Utah donors, giving at least $127,000. The extended group of Creamer and his employees (since he and other investors bought the company late in 2004) rank No. 13 among the state's groups, giving at least $161,000.

The former owner of Envirocare, Khosrow Semnani, is also one of the state's largest political donors. He ranked No. 30 among individual donors, giving almost $40,000. His extended family and employees (before his company's sale) ranked them as No. 16 among groups, giving $140,000.

Other key donors

Among other key donors in Utah is the extended family of William Reagan. The family and Reagan Outdoor Advertising gave at least $309,000, ranking No. 7 among such groups in the state. Reagan and his wife, Julia, also ranked Nos. 11 and 13 respectively among individual Utah donors.

Another powerful group is the extended family of Robert L. Marquardt and his Management & Training Corp., which operates private jails and some Job Corps facilities.

As a group, they ranked No. 10 in the state, giving at least $177,000. A daughter, attorney Jane Marquardt, gave the most among family members with at least $76,000.

The extended family of Fred Lampropolous and his Merit Medical ranked No. 11 among groups, giving at least $168,000. That does not count the $1.5 million that Lampropolous spent out of his own pocket on his failed gubernatorial campaign.

The extended family of Richard Rawle and their Check City payday loan stores rank No. 14 among groups, giving more than $150,000. They have annually successfully fought bills seeking more regulation of the payday loan industry.

Gerda Greene, mother of ex-Rep. Enid Greene, R-Utah, quietly became the No. 7 individual donor in the state, giving $161,000. Most of that — $150,000 — went to help her daughter's bid for lieutenant governor as running mate to Nolan Karras. After they lost in the primary, Greene gave $10,000 to Huntsman, who beat her daughter.