(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-04-03 20:31

Hensley is a prominent presence in Phoenix. Its sports sponsorships include the Phoenix International Raceway, and its foundation gives tens of thousands of dollars to local causes each year. McCain turns over most of his book and speaking proceeds to Hensley's foundation, which distributes them to charities. Hensley's philanthropy includes supporting a flatbed-truck service that transports intoxicated drivers and their vehicles.

Cindy McCain is Hensley's chairwoman and holds at least a 20 percent stake in it, according to Arizona corporate records. She works mostly on strategic planning and corporate vision, said Hensley spokesman Douglas Yonko. The company is family owned, but Hensley won't say whether Cindy McCain is a majority shareholder.

Within the industry, as heiress to her father, she is widely assumed to own a majority of the company. If so, that would make her net worth at least $100 million, if industry estimates of Hensley's value are accurate.

Hensley distributes only Anheuser-Busch products, which makes it and the St. Louis-based brewer heavily dependent on each other, said Joe Thompson, president of the Independent Beverage Group, a research and consulting firm.

"It is a very, very competitive business, and Phoenix is a very, very competitive market," Thompson said. Nationally, some Anheuser-Busch wholesalers are looking to end exclusive arrangements with the brewer, but Thompson does not believe Hensley is among them: "They've been very loyal to Anheuser-Busch, and Anheuser-Busch has been very loyal to them."

Hensley's Web site includes links to Anheuser-Busch promotions and to the National Beer Wholesalers Association, a powerful trade group. Hensley's spokesman, Yonko, is the lobby's Arizona director, and Hensley executives gave enough to the group's political action committee to make its company honor roll.

The PAC doles out millions of dollars to Democratic and Republican congressional candidates each election. John McCain's campaigns have received at least $26,000 from it over the years. An informal poll on the trade group's Web site asks visitors which presidential candidate they would most like to have a beer with (Democrat Barack Obama was way ahead in late March with 45 percent, McCain was second, with 23 percent).

The association's priorities include drunken-driving laws; trucking and labor regulations; estate, fuel and alcoholic-beverage taxes; beer labeling and advertising rules; recycling programs and campaign finance restrictions. Many of those issues come under the purview of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, which McCain chaired from 1997-2001 and again from 2003-2005.

McCain has long said he refrains from voting on beer industry-specific issues. Following that policy, McCain voted "present" when the Senate voted in March 1998 to withhold state highway funding from states that failed to adopt a .08 blood-alcohol standard for drunken driving.

Two years later, McCain voted against the fiscal 2001 transportation appropriations bill, which set a national .08 standard. The National Beer Wholesalers Association opposed the legislation and told its members it had at least succeeded in "delaying and diluting the final version." McCain voted against the bill because he objected to "pork-barrel spending," Hazelbaker said.

On some high-profile issues, McCain disagrees with his wife's industry.

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