(The Associated Press circulated the following on May 20, 2010.)
MADISON, Wis. — The head of the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad Company is apologizing for using company money to reimburse employee’s political donations to Republican candidate for governor Scott Walker.
Walker has returned the $43,800.
Donating corporate money to political candidates is illegal in Wisconsin.
William E. Gardner, the railroad’s president and chief executive, said in a statement Thursday that he didn’t realize what he was doing was prohibited and he admitted making a mistake. Gardner says he has turned over all records to the Government Accountability Board, which oversees campaign finance laws.
Walker’s campaign manager Keith Gilkes says the campaign has returned all the money.
Walker faces former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann in the Republican primary.