Both major political parties in Virginia have decried the politicization of public universities’ Boards of Visitors, which govern public colleges in the Commonwealth. And on her first day in office, Democratic Governor Abigail Spanberger issued an executive order to study how those selections are made.
At the same time, Spanberger also announced nominees to the boards of George Mason University, the Virginia Military Institute and the University of Virginia.
Four of 10 picks for UVA’s panel donated more than $10,000 to Spanberger’s gubernatorial campaign; three donated more than $20,000. Mike Bisceglia, who founded Stauer Watch and Jewelry Company, contributed the highest total: $24,000 to the campaign and another $12,000 to the inaugural committee.
Other appointees donated smaller amounts — or nothing at all.
“Obviously, Virginia is a pay-to-play state,” said Nancy Morgan, a campaign finance reform advocate with BigMoneyOutVA. “I'm thinking $10,000 to $20,000 of a donation isn't really that exceptional when you look at the money she got from Clean Virginia.”
The Charlottesville environmental advocacy group run by investor Michael Bills reported $1.2 million in donations to the governor’s campaign. Conversely, Spanberger’s inaugural committee received $100,000 from Dominion Energy.
In total, Spanberger took in a bit more than $71 million along the way to defeating Republican candidate Winsome Earl-Sears, whose campaign collected about $43 million.
The Commonwealth remains an outlier with no contribution limits for political campaigns, creating a landscape where BOVs — and other appointed positions — are frequently populated by financial contributors. Donations by BOV appointees aren’t unique to the Spanberger administration — or Democrats more broadly.
Stephen Long, a Richmond-area doctor who resigned from his UVA board position this year, was initially appointed by former Governor Glenn Youngkin. Long donated $20,000 to Youngkin’s inaugural committee in 2022, more than $7,500 to the former governor’s campaign in 2021 and a total of $3,500 to Spirit of Virginia — the Republican’s political action committee.
Current nominations made by Spanberger to other university boards follow a similar pattern. Half of her appointees to George Mason’s panel are donors — with Sumeet Shrivastava’s $125,000 total donation to the campaign and inaugural committee being the highest total. Picks for VMI were less lucrative – the top donor sending $2,500 to the campaign.
The governor’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.
In the executive order issued on her first day in office, Spanberger wrote that “Virginia colleges and universities have faced unprecedented challenges from shifts in federal policy to attacks on institutional autonomy and mission. These pressures underscore the urgent need for the Commonwealth to reevaluate how governing boards are appointed, ensuring they are composed of individuals dedicated to upholding the quality, independence, and reputation of our institutions.”
At least nine pieces of legislation aiming to institute some kind of campaign finance reform have so far been unsuccessful this General Assembly session.
Among the proposals was Democratic Senator Danica Roem’s bill that would have disallowed political candidates, their campaigns and political action committees from accepting donations by utility companies. Senator Saddam Salim, another Democrat, floated limiting contributions, setting up fines for violations of those limits and creating a “campaign finance database.” Neither proposal advanced to the floor for a full Senate vote.