McAuliffe discloses campaign donors

• Article
• Comments ()
• Click-2-Listen
• Videos

By Gary Emerling

Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe's multimillion-dollar war chest has been filled by donors who include longtime friend and former president Bill Clinton and celebrity real estate magnate Donald Trump.

The former Democratic National Committee chairman and the three other candidates in the Virginia governor's race filed campaign finance reports with the state elections board Thursday and, as expected, Mr. McAuliffe's donor list is long on former friends and political allies.

Of the $4.2 million raised by Mr. McAuliffe during the first three months of this year, Mr. Clinton donated $10,000, Mr. Trump $25,000 and Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. $5,000, according to donations listed on the Virginia Public Access Project Web site (www.vpap .org).

His largest donor, media mogul Haim Saban - who hosted a California fundraiser for Mr. McAuliffe last month - gave two donations totaling roughly $275,000.

Film producer and financier Stephen Bing gave $250,000 to Mr. McAuliffe's campaign, while Hyatt hotel heir J.B. Pritzker donated more than $101,000.

Mr. McAuliffe's two competitors in the June 9 Democratic primary - state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds and former state delegate Brian J. Moran - raised more than $700,000 and $800,000, respectively, during the last fundraising period.

Mr. Deeds' contributions include $81,000 from his Senate campaign committee and $25,000 from Austin Ligon, the former president of CarMax Inc.

Mr. Moran's donors include the "Moran for Congress" committee of his brother - Rep. James P. Moran - which gave $50,000.

Former Attorney General Bob McDonnell, the race's lone Republican, brought in $2.2 million during the quarter.

More than half of that amount came from two contributions by the Republican Governors Association last month. The first contribution, on March 11, totaled $1 million. The second contribution, on March 31, was for $200,000. His next-largest donation was $50,000 he received from Verizon communications company on March 30.