Developers Pouring Cash Into Va. Campaigns

Dels. Jeffrey M. Frederick and Robert G. Marshall, both Prince William Republicans, introduced measures that would have put limits on development. Del. Joe T. May (R-Loudoun) proposed impact fees to cover the cost of new schools. All three bills were killed in committee.

"The developers and the real estate folks are very powerful in Virginia," said George Mason University Professor Mark J. Rozell, who studies state politics.

Despite success in defeating slow-growth legislation, Toalson said, the recent development battles in Prince William and Loudoun counties have generated new and sophisticated political efforts. That has lighted a fire under some developers this campaign, he said.

"These people have an agenda that is absolutely contrary to the Virginia development community," he said of the groups that often testify against new neighborhoods. "If they had their way, there would never be another house built."

Lisa Guthrie, executive director of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, leads one of the groups that worry builders and developers. Although her organization has contributed only about $40,000 to statewide candidates, she said, many individual donors look to her group for guidance.

"It's not just us. It's the public as a whole," she said. "We understand the process. In order to get good people elected, you have to make investments."

Guthrie said that a bipartisan commission on growth and sprawl has "heightened the awareness and an appreciation that something has got to be done."

Research database editor Derek Willis contributed to this report.