McAuliffe tops donor list

McAuliffe contributed more than $300,000 to state candidates and causes so farthis year, according to the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project, which tracks political money in the state. VPAP ranks him as the top donor in Fairfax County, as well as the top individual donor in the state and fifth overall. His latest recorded donation was $500 to Fairfax County Supervisor John Foust, D-Dranesville, on May 16.

The two biggest amounts were a cash contribution of $249,793 on Feb.12 and a contribution of $45,000 on March 4 to his gubernatorial committee. The large amounts were paid toward campaign debt from the 2009 governor’s race, according to a spokeswoman for McAuliffe, whose committee was based in McLean.

But the politics itch could be resurfacing. McAuliffe, the chairman for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign, recently told the WSLS 10 TV station in Roanoke that a 2013 bid for governor is a “distinct possibility.”

In the meantime, McAuliffe has made an offer to buy the shuttered International Paper facility in Franklin, Va., with plans to turn it into a power plant. He also serves as the chairman of GreenTech Automotive, a company that develops energy-efficient cars.

McAuliffe appears to be positioning himself for another run, said Stephen Farnsworth, a professor of communication at George Mason University.

“The more that McAuliffe does now to make himself better-known around the state … the better position he’s in,” he said.

While McAuliffe was the top donor in Fairfax County, benefactors in other Northern Virginia jurisdictions were mainly groups or businesses during the first half of the year.

Or baseball teams. In Prince William County, the Potomac Nationals donated $10,000 to Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart and $200 to board member John Jenkins.

Arlington County firefighters donated $25,000 to the Committee for a Better Arlington, a group formed by public safety unions that tried to change the county’s system of government.

And in Loudoun County, AOL tops the list with $33,750, including a $15,000 donation to Gov. Bob McDonnell’s inaugural committee and $7,000 to his Opportunity Virginia Political Action Committee.

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