The chief executives of two of Colorado’s largest corporations are writing checks to send a home-state candidate to the White House.

MarketWatch reports that the CEOs of Denver-based money-transfer giant Western Union Co. and Broomfield-based packaging and aerospace business Ball Corp. have both donated personal funds to the campaign of John Hickenlooper.

Ball’s John Hayes contributed $5,600 to the former Colorado governor’s campaign and Hikmet Ersek of Western Union gave $2,800.

“Mr. Ersek’s personal donation stems from a longtime working relationship and standing friendship,” a Western Union spokewoman told MarketWatch.

The news service says that eight CEOs of large, publicly-traded companies listed in the S&P 500 stock-market index donated personal funds to a Democratic candidate’s principal presidential campaign committee during the first three months of 2019.

Five Democrats got funds from corporate big shots during the first quarter.

“At this stage in the race, the donations in large part show corporate leaders supporting top politicians in their companies’ home states,” it says.

For example, Marc Benioff, co-CEO of California-based Salesforce.com Inc., donated $2,700 to California Sen. Kamala Harris, while the chiefs of Minnesota-based Ecolab Inc. and Best Buy Co. each gave $5,600 to Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, and Wendell Weeks of New York-based Corning Inc. contributed $2,800 to New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.  

But some CEO donations to Democrats crossed state lines; Benioff also wrote a $2,700 check to New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who got funds as well from CEOs Dan Schulman of California-based PayPal Holdings Inc. ($2,800) and Charles Lowrey of New Jersey-based Prudential Financial Inc. ($2,700).

MarketWatch did not find any S&P 500 CEO donations to Hickenlooper’s Colorado rival in the 2020 race, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet.

As for Republicans, the only personal S&P 500 CEO donation to President Donald Trump’s re-election effort during the first quarter was a modest $200 from Steve Roth of Vornado Realty Trust, MarketWatch said.

The report did not include gifts to political parties or to political action committees not directly affiliated with candidates. Nor did it include donations from corporations themselves, or from CEOs of smaller or privately-held companies.