Here’s a Look at Board of Supervisors Candidates’ Top Donors

To prepare for the upcoming election, Tysons Reporter looked into how Board of Supervisor candidates in Fairfax County are funding their campaigns. 

Both Democrats in the races for the Providence and Dranesville District Supervisor seats have much larger war chests than their Republican opponents by thousands of dollars.

Tysons Reporter took a look at where the donations to the four candidates’ campaigns are coming from.

Providence District Supervisor Race 

Democrat Dalia Palchik has raised just roughly $110,000 in monetary campaign contributions. 

Major donors include the Jefferson Village Association LP — real estate developers in Bethesda, Md. who have donated $25,000 — and Alison Georgelas, a managing consultant at IBM, with $5,000.

Palchik also received smaller amounts from individuals or organizations like the Fairfax County Professional Firefighters and Paramedics — IAFF Local 2068, who donated $1,500 and openly endorsed her. 

Karl Frisch, who is running for the Providence District seat on the Fairfax County School Board, assisted Palchik with in-kind donations including campaign buttons costing $260.

According to the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP), around $34,000 of Palchik’s campaign funds came from construction or real estate groups. 

Besides political consulting, one of Palchik’s largest expenses was a $1,700 food tab at Inca Social for a fundraiser.

Republican Eric Jones only reported one $200 donation to his campaign from Andrew Finlayson, a retired veteran and member of the Republican Party in North Carolina. Jones told Tysons Reporter that he paid for the rest of his campaign expenses out of his own pocket.

So far, he spent $7,880 of the roughly $9,700 going towards his campaign.

Jones did not report any in-kind contributions and reportedly spent money on a P.O. box in Merrifield, political consulting and signage, among similar things.

Dranesville District Supervisor Race

This year, Democrat John Foust received $81,000 in monetary campaign contributions, according to campaign finance reports.

About $20,000 came from lawyers, according to VPAP.

Foust’s biggest donors so far include Fairfax County Professional Firefighters and Paramedics, who donated $5,500, and several McLean couples.

One couple has donated $9,500 — Sophia Lynn, the head of Crow’s Nest Research Center, gave $4,500, while appellate attorney David Frederick donated $5,000.

Wedding designer and decorator Prabha Bhambri, while Inder Jit Bhambri donated $4,000.

Karen DuVal, who owned a McLean property connected to the War of 1812 and the Civil War, donated $3,500.

He also received $3,000 from Felipe Rodriquez, the CEO of Sterling-based Aeronautical Systems.

Back in September, Foust spent about $1,200 on photoshoot expenses and about $2,300 on the production and design of walk cards.

Meanwhile, Republican Ed Martin — who has missed campaign finance deadlines — told Tysons Reporter that he’s raised about $3,000.

Two campaign finance reports covering April to the end of August say he didn’t raise or spend anything. A new campaign finance report, which was filed yesterday, says that he received $50 in September.

Martin provided Tysons Reporter photos of checks showing the Virginia Republican Victory Fund gave him $500 and the Patriot Republican Women’s Club gave him $50.

The election is Tuesday, Nov. 5.

Catherine Douglas Moran contributed to this story.