|
 The death, confirmed in a statement by Texas Governor Rick Perry,
was first reported on the website of the Dallas Morning News which
said he died on Saturday at Baylor University Medical Center at
Dallas.
His wife, Annette, told the newspaper Simmons had been "very sick
for the last two weeks," and in Baylor's intensive care unit for the
last eight days.
She did not give a specific cause of death.
Simmons, currently listed at No. 40 on Forbes' list of the 400
wealthiest Americans, funneled millions of dollars to Republican
campaigns with a view toward defeating President Barack Obama last
year.
He was widely considered one of the Republican Party's most
aggressive donors in 2012 and took advantage of new rules that place
few limits on how much money wealthy individuals and corporations
can contribute to political groups.
"Harold Simmons was a true Texas giant, rising from humble
beginnings and seizing the limitless opportunity for success we so
deeply cherish in our great state," Perry said in a prepared
statement.
"His legacy of hard work and giving, particularly to his beloved
University of Texas, will live on for generations."
Though he never ran for office, Simmons profoundly shaped the course
of presidential politics in 2004 when one of his businesses gave $3
million to the group Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which helped to
undermine Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry by attacking
his Vietnam War record.
A pioneer of the leveraged buyout, Simmons and his holding company,
Contran Corp, was the largest backer of Texas Governor Rick Perry's
failed presidential bid.
Simmons himself gave $100,000 to Americans For Rick Perry, another
affiliated group, but later gave $500,000 to Winning Our Future, a
Super PAC supporting rival Newt Gingrich as Perry's campaign faded
in the polls.
Contran's political action committee also gave $5,000 donations, the
legal maximum, to Republican candidates Mitt Romney and Tim
Pawlenty.
That approach is common in Texas, where donors commonly spread money
around in order to ensure access.
[to top of second column] |
Simmons has been one of Perry's biggest backers during his tenure as
Texas governor, a time when his company Waste Control Specialists
LLC sought to set up a lucrative nuclear waste dump in the sparsely
populated western part of the state. Perry sought to sideline a
state commissioner who opposed expanding the scope of the project.
A company spokesman pointed to Simmons's extensive donations to
Republicans as evidence that he was not targeting Perry for any
special favors.
Simmons's donations were not limited to the political arena. He and
his wife had pledged to give more than half of their wealth to
charity, joining an effort launched by investor Warren Buffett.
Simmons had also pledged more than $177 million to health research
efforts at the University of Texas-Southwestern in Dallas, and
another $50 million to Parkland Health and Hospital System, a public
hospital in Dallas.
His charitable foundation supports a wide array of causes, including
some that might anger conservatives.
In 2010, the Harold Simmons Foundation gave $75,000 to public
broadcasting organizations, $2,500 to Planned Parenthood, and
$25,000 to Public Campaign, a Washington-based organization that
"aims to dramatically reduce the role of big special interest money
in American politics."
(Reporting by Tom Brown; additional reporting by Andy Sullivan;
editing by Eric Walsh)
[© 2013 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2013 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
