Mr. Perry is not the first governor to have taken contributions from contractors or appointees to state commissions and boards, which oversee many of the agencies that in other states are controlled directly by the governor.
Mr. DiFrancesco's tax returns for 1994 and 1995 showed he paid a total of $19,607 in interest on the loans to those friends: Pamela Coley, the wife of John E. Coley Jr., a law partner; an uncle, Mauro Checchio and Anthonyy J. Sartor and M. Joseph Montuoro, both of whom were then and are now appointees to state commissions.
Mr. Black has not been charged, but three people have been convicted, including Mr. Black's first appointee to the state lottery commission, his former political director, and a former state representative who said he took $50,000 from a Democrat to support Mr. Black.
Ms. Conner is a Patton appointee to the state lottery board.
David H. Peirez, a Garden City lawyer and a Democratic appointee to the state board that oversees Nassau County's finances, said that public service does several things for a law firm.
On Tuesday, Mike Huebsch, a recent appointee to the state Public Service Commission, appeared before the Wisconsin Senate's Committee on Natural Resources and Energy for his confirmation hearing.
Colorado College political science professor Bob Loevy, who served as a Republican appointee to the state legislative Reapportionment Committee, told the Colorado Independent last year that Coffman would move to the center in order to compete in his new district.
Appointees to important state boards, like the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, are also large donors.
At the time, 1995, Mr. Towey was the first state appointee to be rejected in 20 years.
In recent years, Ms. Tripp touted the Island as an appointee to Governor Pataki's state tourism council.
