Rappahannock political activists pony up for candidates, but some of their horses won’t run
By James P. Gannon
Throughout the past year, Rappahannock County political donors have opened their wallets to lend support to Republican and Democratic presidential candidates, but some of their favorites have already disappeared from the 2008 nomination races.
A search of campaign contribution records shows that Rappahannock donors gave to a wide range of presidential candidates in 2007, including those who have abandoned their campaigns after disappointing showings in early primary contests. The remaining candidates–Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain have several local financial backers.
The campaign finance records are filed by candidates with the Federal Election Commission, and are analyzed and organized by zip code by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit organization. Records are available on the Center’s website.
Donors in the Flint Hill zip code gave more money to 2008 presidential candidates than any other area of the county, followed by Sperryville, Amissville and Washington.
Sen. Hillary Clinton’s biggest backer, in terms of dollars given, was Stephanie Ridder of Flint Hill, according to the records. Ridder, a George Washington University professor, made several donations to Clinton’s campaign, in January, February, March, May and December, totaling at least $4,200. Under federal law, the maximum an individual may contribute to a single candidate is $2,300 for primary elections and $2,300 for the general election–$4,600 total.
Clinton also received $2,300 from Gail Montplaisir of Sperryville, $2,300 from Mary Frances Lemat of Sperryville, and $1,000 from Theresea Memphis Holland of Flint Hill, according to the reports.
Clinton’s challenger, Sen. Obama, has numerous donors in Rappahannock. Linda Dietel of Flint Hill made four donations totaling $2,500 to the Illinois senator, the records show. Gay Hardwick of Castleton donated $1,000 to Obama. Benjamin Lee Bird of Flint Hill gave five donations to Obama totaling $450, and Hal Hunter of Amissville donated $500 to him.
Alma Viator of Washington was an early backer of Obama, donating $250 last June, while her husband, Ben Jones, was campaigning for Sen. John Edwards. Jones donated $1,000 to Edwards campaign last March. Jones, famous for his “Cooter” role on TV’s “Dukes of Hazzard” show, recently switched his support to Obama after Edwards dropped out of the race.
On the GOP side, some local donors have given to front-runner John McCain, while others bet on the candidacies of Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and others now gone from the race. The records for Rappahannock zip codes did not turn up any contributions to Mike Huckabee, the only remaining challenger to McCain.
James C. Miller III and his wife Demaris Miller of Sperryville each gave Thompson $2,300 last June, when his candidacy seemed promising to conservatives looking for the next Ronald Reagan. Judith Hope of Washington donated $2,300 to to Romney last March. Thorne Auchter of Washington donated $500 to California’s Rep. Duncan Hunter.
Those candidates have since flamed out, but the few locals who donated to John McCain’s money-starved candidacy saw him gradually emerge as the nearly certain GOP nominee. No large donations to the Arizona senator appear on the campaign records, but a few smaller gifts are recorded–including $400 from David H. Semmes of Flint Hill, $200 from Robert E. Amos of Flint Hill, $200 from James Darrow Kirkpatrick of Amissville.
-- James P. Gannon
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