Developers, Builders Among Largest Connolly Contributors

Baise said he was arranging a series of fundraisers over the next several weeks, and that his target was $500,000 to $600,000.

The Virginia Public Access Project, founded in 1997, is a nonpartisan organization that uses information technology to improve public understanding of the role money plays in Virginia politics. It takes campaign contribution reports filed by candidates and assigns each donor one of 200 occupational codes. These are based either on descriptions provided by the campaigns or on the Virginia Public Access Project's research, which can include consultations with campaign staffs, online searches, or, in some instances, phone calls to donors.

Not all contributions can be accounted for. The group said it was unable to assign an occupation code to Connolly campaign donations totaling $15,714.

The group used more than a dozen occupational categories to determine Connolly's real estate and development community support. These included architects, engineers, property managers, home builders, general contractors, real estate agents, land-use attorneys and title companies.

Tysons Corner land interests figured prominently in contributions to Connolly. Donations totaling more than $14,000 came from executives of the WestGroup, including President and Chief Executive Gerald T. Halpin, Senior Vice President John C. Ulfelder and Executive Vice President Donna P. Shafer. Lerner Corp., which will soon start building the first of eight office towers at Tysons Corner, contributed $17,500. Wilmorite Property Management, which operates Tysons Corner mall, donated $10,000.

Cyrus J. Katzen, a dentist-turned-developer who played a major role in the growth of Tysons and Baileys Crossroads, has contributed $35,000 to Connolly since 2004. Washington Group International, an engineering firm that is part of Dulles Transit Partners, the consortium that will build the Metro rail extension to Dulles International Airport, donated $4,000.

Other members of the Board of Supervisors are relying heavily on the real estate and construction sector for campaign funds. Nearly half of the $102,659 raised by Supervisor Michael R. Frey (R-Sully) has come from those occupational categories, as do just under 37 percent of Supervisor Penelope A. Gross's (D-Mason) $140,779.

Database editor Derek Willis of Washington Post-Newsweek Interactive contributed to this report.