Cross-Posted at: Enough is Enough Virginia
The Washington Post today features a Tim Craig story on large donations to Tim Kaine’s PAC Moving Virginia Forward. Confused as to why the Post story didn’t mention a single currently elected Republican, and happy to have an excuse to cruise VPAP.org, I set out to find out what large donations Virginia Republicans have been raking in since Kaine took office in 2006.
Bill Bolling’s PAC “Building a Better Virginia” has taken in $1,235,771 since its founding in 2006. Of that, 28.25% has come from 7 donors of over $20,000, including $110,000 from Reality Mobile founder and mega-donor David Rensin.
Bob McDonnell’s “McDonnell for Governor” PAC has taken in $818,122 since it’s founding this year, including $203,500 or 24.9% from 8 $20,000+ donors, including Rensin and Circuit City Founder Richard Sharp.
Republican Party of Virginia Chairman Jeff Frederick’s “Virginia’s Future” PAC has received $137,866 since 2006. Of that, $70,000 came from Rensin, and another $40,000 came from Frederick’s House of Delegates campaign account. Those two large donors account for 79.79% of Frederick’s PAC money since 2006.
Frederick’s House of Delegates campaign committee tells an even more interesting story. Frederick has taken in $636,602 since 2006, including $229,446, or 36% from donors over $20,000. David Rensin accounts for $142,000 or 22.3% of Frederick’s campaign receipts since 2006.
As Tim Craig fails to mention in his article, high donors are a way of life here in Virginia. For example, David Rensin has donated $1,604,535 to Republican candidates since 2006. A close second, Paul Jost has contributed $1,086,863 to Virginia Republicans since 2006. Richard Sharp is another high donor who has accounted for $389,700 to Republican campaigns and causes in the same amount of time.
Big money in Virginia politics is a reality, and a bipartisan one. I hope the Washington Post will take better care next time around to look into both sides of this issue.