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The Washington Post and Washingtonpost.com examined campaign contributions from 2003 and 2007 for all Virginia General Assembly races. With all 100 seats in the House and all 40 seats in the Senate up for election in November, dozens of Virginia special interest groups -- lobbyists, companies and trade associations -- have been giving a higher percentage of campaign contributions to Democrats, who some analysts expect to take control of the Senate and make inroads in the House.
The Virginia Public Access Project, a nonprofit which is partially funded by newspapers, isolated 127 non-ideological political action committees that gave to at least 10 different General Assembly incumbents in both calendar year 2003 and the first 8 months of 2007. Here is a snapshot of what the numbers show:
- The percentage of money given by the committees to Democrats jumped from 31 percent to nearly 38 percent.
- Of the 127 committees, 71 PACs increased their donations to Democrats by at least 5 percent.
- Of the 127 committees, 37 PACs didn't change their donations to Democrats by at least 5 percent in either direction.
- Of the 127 committees, only 19 PACs lowered their donations to Democrats by 5 percent or more.
Click on the column labels below to sort by donor, yearly total, or by percentage given to Democrats.
| Donor | 2003 Total | Percent to Democrats | 2007 Total* | Percent to Democrats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 409 Group | $4,400 | 40% | $13,250 | 36% |
| Abbott Laboratories | $11,900 | 23% | $7,750 | 36%  |
| Advance America Cash Advance | $8,850 | 45% | $26,250 | 48% |
| Allen Allen Allen & Allen | $92,000 | 32% | $73,500 | 33% |
| Altria | $61,922 | 20% | $57,447 | 23% |
| American Institute of Architects - Va S | $14,200 | 31% | $8,750 | 27% |
| American Insurance Assn | $23,421 | 31% | $11,050 | 21% |
| Anheuser-Busch | $29,800 | 30% | $7,689 | 10% |
| Anthem | $59,250 | 10% | $47,750 | 36% |
| AOL Inc | $39,750 | 37% | $40,750 | 40% |
| Apartment & Office Building Assn | $11,950 | 30% | $15,950 | 72% |
| Appalachian Power Co | $23,475 | 25% | $35,700 | 39% |
| Associated Builders & Contractors - Va | $7,750 | 16% | $10,000 | 25% |
| Associated Distributors/The Charmer Sun | $13,175 | 29% | $40,550 | 21% |
| Associated General Contractors | $33,100 | 14% | $14,250 | 25% |
| AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals | $14,500 | 31% | $4,000 | 25% |
| AT&T | $21,868 | 17% | $15,354 | 24% |
| Bank of America | $40,050 | 23% | $37,500 | 38% |
| Check into Cash of Va | $3,050 | 33% | $13,250 | 59% |
| Christian & Barton | $5,475 | 13% | $12,900 | 25% |
| Citigroup | $17,500 | 20% | $28,000 | 27% |
| Coca-Cola Bottling Co Consolidated | $11,950 | 29% | $7,000 | 39% |
| Columbia Gas of Va | $18,225 | 37% | $17,700 | 31% |
| Commercial Development PAC | $28,950 | 32% | $25,700 | 40% |
| Consol Energy Inc | $9,000 | 33% | $30,250 | 39% |
| Coors Brewing Co | $12,350 | 24% | $10,159 | 24% |
| CSX Corp | $25,060 | 25% | $7,900 | 48% |
| Delta Dental Plan of Va | $11,500 | 15% | $12,250 | 27% |
| DIAGEO North America Inc | $48,750 | 34% | $22,750 | 44% |
| Dominion | $269,972 | 44% | $222,648 | 57% |
| Eli Lilly & Co | $20,500 | 22% | $16,828 | 30% |
| EPIC PharmPAC | $18,125 | 19% | $16,500 | 41% |
| Equitable Resources Inc | $13,970 | 13% | $9,950 | 30% |
| Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce | $10,917 | 30% | $10,000 | 30% |
| Firefighters - Local 2068 | $11,550 | 91% | $25,250 | 90% |
| Fluor Daniels | $4,500 | 50% | $21,000 | 14% |
| FutureLaw LLC | $3,725 | 8% | $5,575 | 25% |
| GEICO | $9,200 | 4% | $9,750 | 7% |
| Genworth Financial | $18,750 | 23% | $49,300 | 29% |
| GlaxoSmithKline | $20,000 | 38% | $16,000 | 45% |
| HCA for Good Government | $51,150 | 29% | $40,500 | 20% |
| Hoffman Beverage Co | $4,000 | 0% | $6,750 | 19% |
| Home Builders Assn of Va | $118,678 | 38% | $97,525 | 42% |
| Hunton & Williams | $27,350 | 27% | $40,849 | 35% |
| IDI Management Corp | $9,950 | 53% | $13,250 | 25% |
| Kemper Consulting Inc | $16,899 | 12% | $35,812 | 32% |
| LeClair Ryan | $6,650 | 55% | $30,588 | 47% |
| LogistiCare Solutions LLC | $27,650 | 36% | $20,000 | 49% |
| McGuire Woods | $47,871 | 34% | $41,692 | 38% |
| Medical Facilities of America | $36,950 | 22% | $23,000 | 11% |
| Miller Brewing Co | $6,000 | 18% | $7,800 | 36% |
| Motorola Corp | $15,000 | 25% | $11,000 | 27% |
| National Distributing Co | $18,250 | 33% | $10,500 | 60% |
| Nationwide Insurance Co | $27,500 | 26% | $11,750 | 32% |
| Norfolk Southern Corp | $33,800 | 34% | $30,300 | 32% |
| Northrop Grumman | $26,300 | 29% | $46,125 | 34% |
| Nova Building Industry Assn | $20,500 | 66% | $18,500 | 46% |
| Nova Electric Cooperative | $6,000 | 38% | $3,500 | 57% |
| Nova Technology Council | $35,367 | 34% | $35,750 | 48% |
| NRA Political Victory Fund | $7,150 | 11% | $17,450 | 17% |
| Old Dominion Highway Contractors Assn | $35,700 | 37% | $31,500 | 44% |
| Patten Wornom Hatten & Diamonstein | $3,500 | 79% | $19,300 | 57% |
| Pomoco Group Inc | $7,000 | 0% | $10,500 | 0% |
| Professional Insurance Agents of Va | $10,845 | 18% | $5,300 | 26% |
| Reed Smith LLP | $44,629 | 32% | $52,212 | 41% |
| Retail Merchants Assn of Hampton Roads | $8,250 | 19% | $26,175 | 19% |
| Retail Merchants Assn of Richmond | $4,545 | 22% | $7,350 | 14% |
| Reynolds American | $14,374 | 30% | $20,693 | 46% |
| Sands Anderson Marks & Miller | $4,150 | 6% | $6,550 | 31% |
| Service Distributing Inc | $22,650 | 24% | $22,750 | 15% |
| Seven Eleven Inc | $31,000 | 33% | $40,350 | 45% |
| Smithfield Foods | $19,250 | 22% | $25,150 | 39% |
| Sprint Nextel | $45,785 | 26% | $24,250 | 23% |
| SunTrust | $3,350 | 8% | $11,497 | 56% |
| Totals | $4,533,692 | 31% | $4,661,655 | 38% |
| Troutman Sanders | $60,542 | 26% | $47,965 | 36% |
| United Parcel Service | $22,750 | 9% | $29,750 | 30% |
| US Tobacco | $14,250 | 12% | $21,000 | 32% |
| Va Assn of Electric Cooperatives | $19,350 | 25% | $15,050 | 42% |
| Va Assn of Health Plans | $33,750 | 13% | $39,550 | 43% |
| Va Assn of Realtors | $96,051 | 20% | $236,660 | 39% |
| Va Assn of Realtors - Nova | $14,750 | 70% | $46,500 | 77% |
| Va Assn of Realtors - Richmond | $22,125 | 29% | $15,000 | 33% |
| Va Auto Dealers Assn | $241,330 | 35% | $285,490 | 39% |
| Va Bankers Assn | $120,700 | 30% | $210,780 | 41% |
| Va Beer Wholesalers Assn | $115,589 | 30% | $85,234 | 29% |
| Va Beverage Assn | $61,200 | 31% | $62,500 | 34% |
| Va Cable Telecom Assn | $65,205 | 24% | $68,796 | 36% |
| Va Coal Assn | $50,750 | 26% | $52,500 | 30% |
| Va Coalition of Motorcyclists | $4,450 | 34% | $3,300 | 15% |
| Va Credit Union League | $79,190 | 34% | $64,300 | 42% |
| Va Dental Assn | $198,700 | 36% | $115,250 | 33% |
| Va Education Assn | $50,850 | 64% | $34,815 | 61% |
| Va Health Care Assn | $85,750 | 34% | $90,750 | 42% |
| Va Hospital & Healthcare Assn | $148,229 | 45% | $143,307 | 37% |
| Va Independent Insurance Agents | $12,150 | 28% | $5,225 | 24% |
| Va Law Enforcement Assn | $6,000 | 25% | $7,500 | 20% |
| Va Manufactured & Modular Housing Assn | $42,550 | 35% | $5,700 | 54% |
| Va Maritime Assn | $10,100 | 3% | $24,500 | 18% |
| Va Medical Society | $100,794 | 27% | $96,167 | 34% |
| Va Motorcoach Assn | $5,000 | 20% | $3,800 | 26% |
| Va Natural Gas | $3,100 | 8% | $38,173 | 25% |
| Va Oil & Gas Assn | $15,875 | 18% | $11,450 | 22% |
| Va Optometric Assn | $111,950 | 28% | $37,500 | 56% |
| Va Outdoor Advertising Assn | $16,491 | 19% | $14,400 | 16% |
| Va Petroleum Convenience and Grocery As | $26,650 | 24% | $14,950 | 50% |
| Va Physical Therapy Assn | $5,500 | 41% | $3,950 | 32% |
| Va Poultry Federation | $4,750 | 22% | $8,100 | 38% |
| Va Retail Merchants Assn | $14,825 | 19% | $9,500 | 21% |
| Va Sheriffs Assn | $23,813 | 26% | $40,475 | 36% |
| Va Society of Anesthesiologists | $37,050 | 34% | $28,750 | 33% |
| Va Society of Certified Public Accounta | $27,450 | 21% | $17,476 | 17% |
| Va Society of Ophthalmology | $15,000 | 22% | $15,250 | 36% |
| Va State AFL-CIO | $52,200 | 95% | $44,750 | 100% |
| Va State Police Assn | $47,490 | 22% | $46,797 | 35% |
| Va Taxicab Assn | $31,750 | 36% | $34,500 | 33% |
| Va Transportation Construction Alliance | $51,650 | 18% | $23,500 | 17% |
| Va Trial Lawyers Assn | $85,552 | 34% | $146,750 | 45% |
| Va Trucking Assn | $20,950 | 22% | $8,750 | 11% |
| Va Wine Wholesalers Assn | $107,530 | 32% | $110,620 | 30% |
| Vandeventer Black LLP | $8,000 | 9% | $21,500 | 13% |
| Verizon | $73,662 | 27% | $124,900 | 32% |
| VMS Inc | $23,000 | 13% | $10,250 | 27% |
| Wachovia | $25,650 | 26% | $31,050 | 40% |
| Waste Management Inc | $43,750 | 33% | $27,000 | 28% |
| Willcox & Savage | $10,250 | 22% | $15,000 | 23% |
| Williams Mullen | $58,073 | 31% | $52,050 | 31% |
| Wyeth Pharmaceuticals | $5,200 | 24% | $6,500 | 31% |
* 2007 data through August 31, 2007.
Credits: Laura Cochran and Derek Willis, washingtonpost.com. Data: Virginia Public Access Project.
Credits: Laura Cochran and Derek Willis, washingtonpost.com. Data: Virginia Public Access Project.
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