Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald Connolly received $7,000 in campaign contributions over the past three years from one of the two major contractors for Dulles rail, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
The most recent $3,000 donation from Boise-based Washington Group International came two months before the board’s scheduled June 18 vote on whether to approve $400 million of the $2.6 billion needed for the first half of the extension of Metrorail to Dulles.
Washington Group, along with Bechtel Infrastructure, recently won a contract to jointly design and build the extension’s initial 11.6-mile phase. Whether the project can move forward is dependent on an affirmative vote by the Fairfax board.
Connolly has indicated he would vote to approve funding for the extension despite pleas from supporters of running the track in a tunnel under Tysons Corner. Tunnel advocates say a vote in favor of funding would be a nail in the coffin to their movement. Current plans call for an aerial track through the area.
The Washington Group’s contributions represent only a tiny slice of the war chest Connolly has amassed in his bid for a second term as county board chairman. By May 30, Connolly had raised $895,393 and had $805,947 on hand, according to the Public Access Project, which compiles campaign finance data and puts it online. Connolly’s Republican opponent, Gary Baise, had raised $30,671.
The $3,000 Washington Group donation on April 18 follows an equal-sized contribution the year before and a $1,000 donation in 2004. , a Washington Group spokesman Jerry Holloway confirmed the amount and date of the contributions but said they weren’t intended to influence Monday’s vote.
“We support candidates who provide good government, and we believe Mr.Connolly does that,” he said.
Neither Connolly nor his campaign manager, James Walkinshaw, could be reached for comment.
