Buying the board room

Matt Leonard
Online Content Editor

Eight of the 16 Virginia Commonwealth University board members have donated funds to the respective governors who appointed them to their posts on the university’s governing board of visitors.

Over their careers the eight men on VCU’s board have donated almost $2 million to politicians or political committees. Hundreds of thousands of those dollars were donations to the governor who would end up appointing them to the VCU board; seven of them were appointed to their original term by former Gov. Bob McDonnel, Franklin P Hall is the only board member appointed by Govenor Terry McAuliffe and he donate to his campaign.

While serving their terms on the board ­— they can serve a maximum of two four-year terms — they report directly to Virginia’s General Assembly, not the governor.

Six of the eight members who donated gave more funds to the Republican Party; in all six cases they gave tens of thousands of dollars more to Republicans.

One member, Alexander B. McMurtrie, an attorney at McMurtrie, Grubbs and Associates accounted for over 85 percent of the donations to the democratic party — most of that was towards his own run for state Senate in 2007, which he lost to Steve Martin, R, Chesterfield.

Alexander B McMurtrie, Jr 

Serving second four-year term
Lifetime political contributions
$680,361

Democratic candidates:  $628,811
Republican candidates: $31,550
‘Other’ party: $20,000

Bob McDonnell for Governor: $15,000

Thomas F Farrell
Lifetime political contributions
$535,464

Democratic candidates: $15,000
Republican candidates: $263,000
‘Other’ party: $107,000

Bob McDonnell for Gov.: $95,000
McDonnell Inaugural Committee 2010:$25,000
Bob Mcdonnell for Attorney General:$10,000

John Anderson Luke, Jr
Lifetime political contributions
$201,800

Democratic candidates: $500
Republican candidates: $187,300
‘Other’ party: $14,000

Bob McDonnell for Governor: $20,000

John W Snow.
Lifetime political contributions
$40,500

Democratic candidates: $2,000
Republican candidates: $38,500
‘Other’ party: $0

Bob McDonnell for Governor: $11,000

William M Ginther
Serving second four-year term
Lifetime political contributions
$33,265

Democratic candidates: $4,500
Republican candidates: $28,515
‘Other’ party: $250

Bob McDonnell for Gov: $6,000
McDonnell Inaugural Committee 2010:$2,500
McDonnell Inaugural Committee 2006:$2,000
McDonnell for Attorney General: $350

Franklin P Hall
Lifetime political contributions
$30,310

Democratic candidates: $27,010
Republican candidates: $0
‘Other’ party: $3,300

Terry McAuliffe for Governor: $8,500

VCU board totals

Lifetime political contributions
$1.96 million

Donations to:

Democratic candidates
$731,871

Republican candidates
$1,002,364

‘Other’ candidate
$230,260