THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 2, 1996 TAG: 9605020421
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL AND LISE OLSEN, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Long : 129 lines
Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf and City Councilman Harold Heischober, once considered arch enemies, now have some friends in common - campaign contributors.
Norfolk Councilman Mason C. Andrews and candidate Daun S. Hester, who hail from different sides of town and are running in different races, have more than 20 common donors.
Chesapeake Mayor William E. Ward and Vice Mayor Robert T. Nance Jr., leaders of opposing political parties, draw money from the same developers and building interests.
In Hampton Roads, candidates with lots of money to spend for a city council or school board race typically get it from small pools of business and civic leaders who contribute regularly to elections, according to campaign finance disclosure reports filed this week.
About 500 individuals and 200 companies contributed to the more than 125 candidates in current South Hampton Roads races, according to itemized reports, which must be filed for contributions of more than $100.
Some are civic-minded individuals, some established business interests seeking to ensure access. Together, they paint a picture of the true players in local politics in each city - those who sign the checks.
In Virginia Beach, Oberndorf and Heischober got $13,450 from the same 16 contributors. They include Bay Chevrolet, Clark & Stant law, Divaris Real Estate, Browning-Ferris Industries, TARMAC building materials, Hazel & Thomas law offices and longtime Democratic leader D. Murray Malbon.
Heischober has traditionally led the pro-business faction, and Oberndorf the civic-league faction. They opposed each other in a state Senate race, and for mayor while on the council. The two have exchanged many and heated words.
For Oberndorf, this campaign marks the first time many established business interests have rallied around her campaign. Four years ago, much of the business community funded political unknown Mark Bailey. He lost badly, despite outspending Oberndorf three to one.
This election, Oberndorf received a larger amount of itemized contributions in Hampton Roads than anyone else - $39,250 of her total of $51,914. Oberndorf, Heischober, Andrews, Hester and Ward were the top five fund-raisers in the region. Nance ranked 10th.
In Norfolk, Hester, running for Superward 7, a largely African-American district, received about half her $22,385 in itemized contributions from 23 contributors shared with Andrews - nearly all members of the Norfolk's traditional, mostly-white power structure.
It helped make Hester the top recipient of campaign contributions in Hampton Roads - $57,599 - an extraordinary feat for an African-American school administrator who has never held elective office.
Andrews, the former mayor and 22-year council veteran, is a leader of downtown development and the business community. The shared contributors give ammunition to one of Hester's opponents, William ``Wes'' Swindell. He charges that Hester owes allegiance to established downtown business interests more than to the middle- and working-class neighborhoods in Superward 7.
``What do they want in return'' for all that money, asks Councilman Paul R. Riddick, who is backing Swindell, Hester's opponent. ``It says to me she can be bought.''
Hester says she is bringing people together.
``It shows I have citywide support, black and white,'' Hester said. ``I have received contributions from the other side of town as well, just not in the same amounts, because they don't have the same amounts.''
The contributors Andrews and Hester share include practically a who's who of ``Westside'' and downtown leaders, including longtime philanthropist Henry Clay Hofheimer III; commercial real estate leader Harvey Lindsay Jr.; Bruce T. Bishop of Wilcox & Savage; former School Board chairman Thomas Johnson Jr.; George Kaufman of Kaufman & Canoles; Elizabeth Darden; longtime Norfolk & Southern executive John Turbyfill; and Arthur, Sam and Steven Sandler of Sandler Foods.
Still, it's not just Westside residents who support Hester. On Monday, the Tidewater Metro Baptist Ministers Conference, which represents 125 African-American churches in the region, endorsed Hester.
In Chesapeake, Ward is a Democrat. Nance a Republican. But the two get about $15,000 from the same eight contributors, many of whom have an interest in seeing more homes built in that city.
Developer Edward S. Garcia's company ESG Companies; Eastland Development Co.; HRUCA, a road contracting political action group; and Thrasher Sand Co. all gave money to both Ward and Nance.
John Cosgrove, the mayoral candidate against Ward who shares a ticket with Nance, is now running advertisements criticizing Ward for taking money from developers. The ads don't mention that Nance, Cosgrove's Republican ticket mate, does the same.
``You've never heard me come after Bill about anything concerning his contributions,'' Nance said. ``I'm not part of that race.''
In Hampton Roads, only 14 candidates got more than $5,000 in itemized contributions. In those races, the same names appear over and over, often crossing city lines.
In Portsmouth, the Portsmouth Committee gave seven cash contributions totaling $5,000 to the candidates they tapped for School Board and council. The committee, a group of prominent citizens, will not share their membership lists but have contributed in city races for several years.
Browning-Ferris Industries, a trash disposal firm, gave $1,750 to six candidates. The Tidewater Builders Association gave $1,950 to six candidates. Harvey Lindsay Jr. gave $2,000 to five candidates.
Real estate and building interests in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake continue to dominate. Individuals and companies with ties to those industries contributed nearly $40,000 to all races region-wide.
Heischober got more than 20 percent of his itemized contributions, or $7,275, from real estate or building interests. Nance in Chesapeake got about $3,000, or 25 percent of his itemized contributors, from similar interests.
Tourism interests - restaurants and hotels - contributed $13,076 in local races, with most contributions to Beach candidates.
In Norfolk and Portsmouth, no one dominant business interest emerges.
Norfolk's downtown, where many contributors hail from, has a varied financial base of law, banking, commercial real estate, insurance, railroad and other businesses. MEMO: Staff writers Toni Whitt and Mac Daniel contributed to this story.
TOP FUND-RAISERS
Top five fund-raising City Council candidates
$57,599 - Daun S. Hester, Norfolk, council candidate, Superward 7
$51,914 - Meyera E. Oberndorf, Virginia Beach, candidate for mayor
$47,465 - William E. Ward, Chesapeake, candidate for mayor
$43,469 - Harold Heischober, Virginia Beach, council candidate,
at-large
$29,820 - Mason C. Andrews, Norfolk, council candidate, Superward 6
SIX CANDIDATES, OFTEN ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE FENCE, RECEIVED MORE THAN
$100 FROM THE SAME CONTRIBUTORS
For complete information see microfilm.
KEYWORDS: CAMPAIGN FINANCES CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS FUND RAISING by CNB