CEO Political Information

[BSA1]

With all the debate about restaurants banning Open Carry I thought information about the CEO political position would be of interest as it might suggest whether they support or oppose gun control. The results were interesting.

SONIC
Headquarters - Oklahoma City, OK.
CEO; J Clifford Hudson

PERSONAL;
He is married to Dr. Leslie Hudson, a public health professional and former associate professor at the University of Oklahoma.

PROFESSIONAL;
Chairman of Georgetown University Law Center's Board of Visitors and h
Has served as chairman of the Oklahoma City Public School Board of Education.
In 1994, he was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as chairman of the Board of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation.

POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS;
DNC
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
Democratic National Committee


CHILI’S
Headquarters - Dallas, TX.
CEO Kelli Valade

POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS;
BRINKER INTERNATIONAL INC. POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
The Brinker PAC has a long history of supporting Republican candidates.


WENDY’S
CEO Emil Brolick
Headquarters - Dublin, Ohio

POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS;
RNC
Mitt Romney

CHIPOLTLE;
Headquarters - Denver, Colo.
CEO; Steve Ells

POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS;
Friends of Jared Polis Committee (D)
Patrick Murphy for Congress (D)


STARBUCKS
Headquarters- Seattle, WA.
CEO; Howard Schultz

POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS;
Democratic National Committee
Patty Murray (D)
Barrack Obama (D)
Maria E. Cantwell (D)
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
Chuck Schumer (D)
Max Baucus (D)
Terrycina Andrea Sewell (D)
John Edwards (D)
Hillary Clinton (D)
Ronald Lee Wyden (D)
Tom Daschle (D)
Ronald Kirk - Ambassador Kirk is a member of President Obama's Cabinet and serves as the President's principal trade advisor, negotiator and spokesperson on trade issues.
Bryon Dorgan (D)
Ted Kennedy (D)
Ronald Sims (D)
Peter R. Deutsch (D)
Alan John Blinken (D)
Bill Bradley (D)
John McCain (R)
Brian Baird (D)


JACK IN THE BOX;
Headquarters – San Diego, CA.
CEO; Leonard A; Comma

Mr. Comma became CEO of JACK IN THE BOX in January, 2014. I have not be able to locate any information on his political position and contributions.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Good info. Do remember, though, that many large chains are, in part or in whole, franchises. The corporations have an interest in the individual sights - typically providing support and taking a percentage of profits - but do not actually own the restaurants. The individual stores have to adhere to certain requirements, but the owners can set their own (non-discriminatory) policies to a large extent.

Such is the case with the 3 nearest Sonic restaurants here. I know the owner, who is actually a really nice guy, and though I haven't talked with him recently, I'm quite sure he wouldn't give a hoot about OC'd handguns, despite Sonic corporate's request.

He is also Conservative.

 

[hso]

I'll point out that you can't use this sort of information as any sort of reliable indicator of 2A stance. A CEO of a corporation doesn't set policy on their own and stockholders, franchise owners, Board of Directors, and corporate leadership all play roles in making policy decision. As business leaders the CEOs of large companies don't typically impose their political opinions on the corporation. Most leave the politics at home and focus on the financial well being of the business.

In addition, most of these businesses have not banned firearms from their establishments in any meaningful way, they've asked people to stop the firearms theatrics in their businesses and avoided posting prohibitions on firearms. Antics by long gun toting individuals posturing and posing in the businesses pushed them to try to stop such disruptive behavior while still avoiding putting up postings prohibiting firearms on their premises. That's completely different from the barbeque restaurant owner in the Carolinas that posted his place against firearms with a custom sign who hosted the Giffords as a 2A stance.

Criticism of the companies that have been pushed to try to stop these "Look at ME, I'm carrying an AR/AK while you try to eat your salad!" folks from disrupting their businesses is short sighted. We should be working to keep the businesses from being pushed into the Anti's camp.