Developers’ Donations Show Growth Still Key in Loudoun Races

By Sandhya Somashekhar (Contact)

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Several incumbents seeking reelection to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors are getting huge donations from the real estate industry, whose money four years ago fueled the county’s most expensive election and helped put into power a slate of pro-growth candidates.

The large donations, which are expected to accelerate in the days before the Nov. 6 election, indicate that growth and development are still key issues despite a slump in housing sales and a campaign season that has focused more on traffic and illegal immigration.

But the contributions are significantly less than in the 2003 election, when construction trucks seemingly rumbled through every Loudoun neighborhood and the population surged by more than 18,000. By this time in 2003, the real estate industry had contributed almost $500,000, compared with about $320,000 this year, according to the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project.

The industry’s efforts four years ago paid off as a pro-growth slate of lawmakers was elected, immediately reversing the county’s support for a series of slow-growth initiatives in Richmond. The board also adopted less-restrictive limits on construction in the rural western two-thirds of the county than many residents wanted.

In the past year, however, members have moderated their pro-growth stance under pressure from slow-growth activists and in the face of increasing outrage over rising tax bills and worsening traffic.

But that hasn’t stopped candidates in the final weeks of a brutal campaign season from seeking money from developers, who are pulling back from contributing, said Jim Williams, executive vice president of the Northern Virginia Building Industry Association. The organization gives money to candidates through its Affordable Shelter political action committee.

“Are we continuing to invest? Yes,” he said of candidates. “Are we investing as much as we did in the last cycle? I don’t think so, because there isn’t as much money out there as there was before.”

Candidates who have deviated from their pro-developer philosophy are being abandoned, Williams said.

Supervisor Bruce E. Tulloch (R-Potomac), for example, had received more than $30,000 from the real estate community by this time in 2003, when he was seeking his first term. But he alienated some developers — and many of his slow-growth colleagues — when he waffled over whether to support strict growth controls in western Loudoun. His vacillating delayed the vote by at least a month.

This year he has received less than $20,000 from the industry, according to the public access project. He acknowledged the drop at a recent debate when asked whether he was beholden to developers.

“The development community, quite frankly, has picked another horse in this race, because they thought they had influence and they didn’t,” he responded.

Incumbent Lori L. Waters (Broad Run) has also sought to highlight her well-publicized moderate turn on the development issue, promoting herself this year as “a different kind of Republican.” In 2003, she got more than $15,000 from the industry. With less than a month before the election, that number had shrunk to just more than $3,000 received this year.

Some candidates are getting vastly more from the industry than they did four years ago. Republicans Mick Staton Jr. (Sugarland Run), Stephen J. Snow (Dulles) and Eugene A. Delgaudio (Sterling) have been the greatest recipients of the industry’s largess. Staton, for example, had received more than $78,000 from developer interests by Sept. 30, three times more than he received for the 2003 election cycle.

As of Sept. 30, more than 40 percent of all three candidates’ money had come from developers and others associated with the county’s housing boom.

Snow’s close relationship with the development industry is no secret. He has touted developers as the way to bring millions of dollars worth of roads and amenities to the county. For example, he has said his relationship with Van Metre Homes fast-tracked the building of the Gum Springs library, which was donated by Van Metre and is set to open next year.

“He’s earned the trust of the development community,” said Bob Maistros, a spokesman for Snow’s campaign who also works for Van Metre. “He has earned their respect by coming with his hand out to serve the interests of the people in the Dulles District.”

Candidates who are less sympathetic to the needs of the real estate industry, meanwhile, are cashing in with donors in the slow-growth community.

In the last election, much of the developer money was a response to strict growth controls passed by the previous board. This time, slow-growth activists say, the backlash is against a board perceived as too friendly to developers.

Donors who gave more than $100 to the anti-sprawl Piedmont Environmental Council last year have contributed more than $74,000 to candidates this year, according to a comparison of campaign finance data and a list of donors provided by the group.

One notable contributor is Sandy Lerner, a co-founder of Cisco Systems who owns a farm in Upperville. Lerner has donated more than $15,000 to local campaigns, including $10,500 to Blue Ridge Supervisor James Burton (I). She is one of the top donors to Andrea McGimsey (D), the former head of a group affiliated with the environmental council who is running against Tulloch, of Potomac.

Joe Maio, spokesman for the slow-growth PAC Voters for Loudoun’s Future, said residents have figured out in the past four years that more housing means worsening traffic and higher taxes.

It’s part of the reason the nonpartisan group has already collected more than $160,000 to support the six Democrats, two independents and one Republican it has endorsed. In 2003, the group collected $115,000 for the election cycle.

“There has been a lot of frustration with this board,” Maio said. “Their attitude has really invigorated support for our cause, and people are more willing to give money.”

Tagged: elections

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