VECO Corp. is out and Penco is in as the top funder for federal candidates from Alaska according to the Anchorage Daily News. [1] Keep in mind that all three of Alaska's members of Congress, Senator Ted Stevens, [2] Senator Lisa Murkowski [3] and Rep. Don Young [4], made CREW's list of most corrupt members of Congress in our report, Beyond DeLay. Penco is run by Bob Penney who is quite close to Senators Ted Stevens and Lisa Murkowski. According to the ADN, Mr. Penney "last year appeared before the federal grand jury investigating Stevens." And, Mr. Penney's land deal with Murkowski is one reason she was named in Beyond DeLay. 

There's more:

Bob Penney gave $2,600 to Stevens' re-election campaign in 2007 and $4,600 to Murkowski. Others in the Penney family last year donated an additional $7,200 total to the Stevens campaign and $5,850 to Murkowski.

Penney has known Murkowski since she was the small child of then-Alaska Sen. Frank Murkowski.

Lisa Murkowski was accused last year of getting a sweetheart deal from Penney on her purchase of a Kenai riverfront lot next door to Penney's home. Murkowski denied wrongdoing but decided last summer to sell the lot back to Penney as a result of the controversy.

Penney has long been a campaign contributor, giving money to Alaska candidates as well as Outside politicians including former U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt of Washington, Missouri Sen. Kit Bond, former Montana Sen. Conrad Burns and South Dakota Sen. John Thune.

But Penney's 2007 giving is far more than he's contributed in any year at least since 1990, the furthest back Federal Election Commission records compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics go.

Bob Penney and Ted Stevens' ties go beyond campaign contributions. They were partners in a Utah land deal where Stevens made an initial investment of $15,000 in 1998 and said in 2005 that he made $150,000 when he sold his interest in the property.

Stevens and Penney have also been partners in racehorses with other influential Alaskans. And they are involved in bringing members of Congress, corporate executives and other VIPs to Alaska each summer for the Kenai River Classic, a king salmon fishing tournament that raises money for fish habitat.

Penney is co-founder and a current board member of the nonprofit Kenai River Sportfishing Association. Congress has earmarked $4.7 million of Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund money over the past four years to be spent under KRSA's direction on fisheries research and habitat work.