Board of Visitors member William H. Goodwin Jr. was appointed as one of four finance committee co-chairs for Ed Gillespie’s senatorial campaign Wednesday. Gillespie, a communications consultant and former White House aide, is the likely Republican nominee for the Virginia seat in the Senate currently filled by Sen. Mark Warner.
Goodwin, the vice rector of the Board, was approved as vice chair of the Board’s executive committee in September. He is based in Richmond, Va. and owns a host of real estate properties, including the historic Jefferson Hotel.
Paul Logan, a spokesman for the Gillespie campaign, said the finance committee focuses largely on fundraising.
“The finance committee members will help raise the money needed to get Ed Gillespie’s message to Virginians,” Logan said in an email.
According to the Virginia Public Access Project’s website, Goodwin donated $238,250 to Virginia campaigns from 2011 to 2013. From 1993 to 2013 Goodwin’s total donations to Virginia campaigns amount to $688,923.
According to the website OpenSecrets, Goodwin — potentially with the help of his son, because the website does not distinguish between junior and the third — has donated $559,095 to national campaigns in total, $198,350 of which was given from 2012-14. The vast majority of Goodwin’s donations are to Republican candidates and conservative causes.
Logan said Goodwin was appointed as a representative of the state of Virginia.
“The finance co-chairs represent respected leaders in all corners of the Commonwealth,” Logan said. The Gillespie campaign aims “to build on a strong first quarter in which 15 donors who previously gave to Mark Warner contributed to Ed Gillespie.”
Financial giving to political causes and campaigns is not unusual for members of the Board. Data from the Virginia Public Access Project shows the vast majority of current Board members — 15 out of 17 — contributed to the campaigns of the governors who nominated them to the Board.
As of October, Goodwin was the most active political donor on the Board. He contributed $1,156,989. The governor’s office said political contributions are not considered in Board appointments.
Goodwin could not be reached for comment for this article.
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