campaign contributions

Misleading anti-redistricting mailers prompt outcry from AG Jones, Virginia NAACP

Published April 1, 2026 at 3:45PM

An anti-redistricting mailer sent to Arlington households (staff photo by Katie Taranto)

A public messaging brawl over Virginia’s upcoming redistricting referendum has gotten even messier with new mailers prominently displaying out-of-context quotes from former President Barack Obama.

The front of the mailers, which some Arlington households received last week, urges residents to vote against redistricting and quotes Obama as saying, “Let voters decide, not politicians.” Obama actually supports redistricting, and his quote is taken from a pro-redistricting ad released a few weeks ago.

News

Tysons casino proponent donates $15K to Arlington delegates

By Scott McCaffrey and Jared Serre

Published April 24, 2025 at 9:00AM

Dels. Alfonso Lopez, Patrick Hope and Adele McClure (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)

A developer hoping to bring casino gambling to Northern Virginia has contributed $15,000 to two of Arlington’s state delegates.

Incumbent Del. Patrick Hope (D-1) on March 26 received a $10,000 campaign contribution from Reston-based Comstock Hospitality Holdings, which for the past two years has worked to secure General Assembly approval to allow for a casino in Tysons.

News

New County Board member asks for help paying campaign debt

By Dan Egitto

Published January 8, 2025 at 9:45AM

JD Spain, Sr. at the Arlington Democrats' election November 2024 watch party in Crystal City (staff photo by James Jarvis)

The Arlington County Board’s newest member is asking supporters for assistance in paying off remaining campaign debt.

JD Spain, Sr., who took out $32,000 in loans a few weeks before the Democratic primary in June, emailed supporters on Dec. 30 asking them to contribute to a “final push” for funding. As of the end of December, Spain told ARLnow, he had paid off 85% of campaign loans.

News

Local political parties aiming to replenesh their cash reserves for 2025

By Scott McCaffrey

Published January 4, 2025 at 9:00AM

Arlington County Democratic Committee chair Steve Baker (staff photo by Scott McCaffrey)

With the holiday season coming to a close, Arlington’s main political parties already are focusing on another election season.

And the cash that will be required to compete in it.

News

Commonwealth’s Attorney race is getting expensive as ads litigate who is a ‘real’ Democrat

By Jo DeVoe

Published June 13, 2023 at 3:45PM

Commonwealth's Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti and her challenger, Josh Katcher (photo illustration by ARLnow)

In the race to pick the next Democratic candidate for Arlington and Falls Church’s top prosecutor, incumbent Parisa Dehghani-Tafti has topped her opponent, Josh Katcher, in fundraising.

A campaign financing report released yesterday (Monday) says she netted $356,220 in cash donations for her re-election bid from April 1-June 8. She raced ahead after falling behind Katcher in the last filing period. The Democratic primary is on June 20 and early voting started last month.

News

County Board and prosecutor candidates Roy and Katcher lead campaign fundraising so far

By Jo DeVoe

Published April 19, 2023 at 10:30AM | Updated April 19, 2023 at 12:11PM

A campaign sign for Arlington County Board candidate Natalie Roy with other candidate signs in the background (staff photo)

(Updated at 12:10 p.m.) Two candidates have emerged as top fundraisers ahead of this year’s Democratic primary: Natalie Roy for Arlington County Board and Josh Katcher for Commonwealth’s Attorney.

That’s according to newly-filed quarterly campaign financial reports.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published July 25, 2022 at 7:30AM

Clarendon Metro station (photo courtesy George Brazier)

Billionaire Contributes to Board Candidate — “Who is Arthur Rock and why did he contribute $15,000 – a large amount by local standards – to the re-election campaign of Democratic County Board candidate Matt de Ferranti? The first question is perhaps the easier of the two to answer. Rock is a 95-year-old (to be 96 in August) billionaire who made his money over the decades in the venture-capital field and related endeavors.” [Sun Gazette]

RIP Sidney Dewberry — “Sidney Oliver ‘Sid’ Dewberry passed away peacefully in Arlington, Virginia, on July 16, 2022, surrounded by his loving family. He had a unique and purposeful life — filled with service to his community, the Commonwealth of Virginia and the nation, while being wholly dedicated to his family.” [Legacy, Dewberry, Sun Gazette]

News

Most of Dorsey’s Campaign Cash Went to Him and His Wife in 2019

By ARLnow.com

Published February 6, 2020 at 3:30PM | Updated February 6, 2020 at 4:23PM

(Updated at 4:20 p.m.) Arlington County Board member and now-former Metro board member Christian Dorsey cruised to easy election victories in 2019 and thus didn’t need to spend much on his campaign. He did, however, direct campaign cash to himself and his wife.

Dorsey, who is currently trying to resolve a personal bankruptcy, is not accused of wrongdoing in his campaign spending. But it does raise questions amid news that he has not yet fulfilled a promise to repay a $10,000 campaign contribution, deemed unethical by the Metro board after Dorsey failed to notify the board of the donation in a timely manner.

Opinion

Hurtt Locker: Christian Dorsey Scandal is Worse Than We Thought

By Matthew Hurtt

Published November 14, 2019 at 2:30PM | Updated November 15, 2019 at 2:56PM

Arlington residents learned about a string of ethical and financial transgressions by Arlington County Board Chairman Christian Dorsey last week.

After waiting four months to disclose a $10,000 campaign contribution from Metro’s largest union, Dorsey – who serves as a principal director on the WMATA (Metro) Board – was removed as finance chair of the board in a special meeting last Thursday.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published July 29, 2019 at 7:30AM

‘Lee’ Supporters Seek W-L Name Delay — “It may be a last-ditch attempt, but supporters of retaining the name of Washington-Lee High School are seeking a delay of a year to implement the change to Washington-Liberty. ‘There are multiple active legal actions working their way through various courts,’ said Dean Fleming, vice president of the Washington-Lee High School Alumni Association, in an e-mail to school leaders. ‘This is a very serious matter. It should not be taken lightly.'” [InsideNova]

Moran Donates Leftover Campaign Cash — “In the summer of 2018, congressman-turned-lobbyist Jim Moran was trying to recruit his former colleagues to put pressure on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Moran was doing so on behalf of one of his clients, the government of Qatar. And he had a pot of money, left over from years of donations to his reelection campaigns, that he could steer to his lobbying targets.” [The Daily Beast]

News

Favola Drops Advanced Towing as State Senate Race Continues

By Airey

Published May 6, 2019 at 4:30PM

State Sen. Barbara Favola (left) is being challenged by candidate Nicole Merlene (right)

Candidates running for the Virginia State Senate this year have raised hundreds of thousands along the campaign trail — but not from Arlington’s Advanced Towing.

None of the four candidates running for Richmond accepted money from the controversial towing company, according to the most recent campaign finance filings detailing fundraising between January 1 and March 31 as shared by the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP).

News

Arlington’s Delegate Candidates Drop Dominion Energy Money

By Airey

Published April 22, 2019 at 3:40PM | Updated April 25, 2019 at 8:53AM

Del. Rip Sullivan

(Updated on 04/25/19) Arlington’s representatives in the Virginia House of Delegates have made good on promises to eschew Dominion Energy money, according to recent campaign finance reports.

Arlington’s six candidates for the House of Delegates shared financial reports indicating their campaigns took in no money from the utility company this year. However, most candidates are still relying on contributions from advocacy and labor groups, political action committees, and businesses, as opposed to running campaigns based only around individual contributions.