Days before last week’s elections, members of the UVA Board of Visitors assembled for their quarterly meeting. And while C-VILLE will explore one of the Board’s big decisions next week, the proximity of those two events reminded us of the significant political clout of the Board of Visitors—at least as far as donations are concerned.
As a point of comparison, C-VILLE looked at two prominent political action committees, launched by former Virginia Governor, Tim Kaine (D), and his successor, Bob McDonnell (R). Since their inception, Kaine’s Moving Virginia Forward and McDonnell’s Opportuity Virginia have each made roughly $3.5 million in campaign contributions. And members of the UVA Board of Visitors have contributed not-so-insignificant sums to the coffers of each committee.
Members of the current Board of Visitors, which include a few McDonnell appointees as of June, have contributed $791,000 to Kaine’s PAC, and $485,250 to McDonnell’s PAC. Some BOV members, such as current Vice Rector and longtime UVA donor Mark Kington, gave to campaigns and PACs alike. Kington contributed $50,000 to McDonnell’s PAC, but also gave nearly $100,000 total to McDonnell’s campaigns for governor and attorney general.
Others gave hefty sums to both PACs. In fact, the top overall donor for each PAC is Randal J. Kirk, who accounts for nearly $1 million of BOV members’ $1.3 million in total contributions. From 2006 to 2010, Kirk gave Moving Virginia Forward $685,000. From 2009 to date, he has given Opportunity Virginia $300,000. Both totals are significant enough to make him the top overall donor to each PAC.
