The anti-Joe Morrissey political action committee formed during Richmond’s mayoral contest this past fall was fueled by cash from individuals and organizations that also donated to Mayor Levar Stoney or runner-up Jack Berry’s campaigns, a new finance report shows.
Between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, A Stronger Richmond Community reported raising about $19,000, according to the report, which was due Tuesday by midnight.
Its single biggest donation of $5,000 came from Jim Ukrop, a Berry booster who donated or loaned more than $172,000 to the former Venture Richmond executive’s campaign.
The PAC also received a $2,500 donation from the Virginia Mainstream Project, another political action committee launched by former Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling back in 2013. Bolling’s committee also donated $2,500 to both Berry and Stoney.
Other overlapping donations:
- Michael Schewel of the Tredegar Corp. gave Berry $5,000 and Stoney $500. He also gave the PAC $2,500.
- Developer Charles Macfarlane gave $4,500 to Berry’s campaign and $600 to the PAC.
- Edward Mullen, an attorney and lobbyist, gave $250 to Stoney and $500 to the PAC.
- Richard Johnson, president of the Wilton Cos., gave $250 apiece to Stoney, Michelle Mosby and Bruce Tyler. He also donated $250 to the PAC.
- Rodney Poole, a lawyer, gave $250 to Stoney and $250 to the PAC.
Albert Pollard, a former Democratic delegate who served with Morrissey in the General Assembly, formed the committee in September. He had previously donated to Stoney’s campaign.
Most of the committee’s money was spent on radio and social media ads in the last three weeks of the race, the report shows. Pollard’s PAC paid for the pointed one-minute spot released in mid-October that featured candidate and then-City Council President Michelle Mosby casting Morrissey as untrustworthy. Lythos Studios produced the ads, according to the report.
When news of the PAC broke, Morrissey accused his opponents of using it to attack him while keeping their hands clean. The presumed front-runner of the crowded field, Morrissey stumbled through the final weeks of the race, ultimately coming in third with just 21 percent of the vote citywide.