McDonnell to donate excess inaugural funds to charity, as state law requires

Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) has talked for the last couple of months about donating his excess inaugural funds to charity, and while everyone agrees that's a generous gesture, let's not forget that state law has changed and that's now required.

A report released today by the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonpartisan tracker of money in politics, shows that last year's statewide candidates actually raised far less for their inaugural festivities than their counterparts four years ago, who were able to hold onto the excess money by transferring it to political accounts.

In 2006, Gov. Tim Kaine (D) transferred $800,000, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) transferred $168,000 and Attorney General McDonnell transferred $280,000. That money helped Bolling and McDonnell with their future runs and Kaine support other candidates.

This year, McDonnell announced that he will contribute about $100,000 to charity, while Bolling and Cuccinelli raised exactly what they needed for their inaugural festivities.

McDonnell raised $1.9 million from more than 1,554 donors. Top donations came from attorneys, state employees, those who work in the defense industry, veterans and Realtors, according to VPAP.

Bolling raised $85,964 from 155 donors. Cuccinelli raised $244,935 from 326 donors.

By Anita Kumar  |  March 16, 2010; 3:24 PM ET
Categories:  Anita Kumar , Bill Bolling , Ken Cuccinelli , Robert F. McDonnell , Timothy M. Kaine Save & Share:                  Previous: McDonnell will spend St. Patrick's Day in the nation's capital
Next: Va. Republican congressional candidate: Not sure Obama born in U.S.