The alleging that the front-runner for Fairfax County, Virginia鈥檚 top office had ethical issues originated from a challenger’s campaign.
鈥淭he memo came from us,鈥� developer Tim Chapman told 草莓传媒 Monday.
Chapman said his campaign for Fairfax County Board of Supervisors chairman hired a law firm to compile that claims Lee District Supervisor Jeff McKay improperly got a discount on his house from a friend.
鈥淭hat was part of our public records research. There鈥檚 no secret about it. I mean, these are very troubling allegations,鈥� Chapman said. 鈥淔ocus on what is important, which is, is it true?鈥�
McKay, who is endorsed by retiring Chairman Sharon Bulova, hired his own lawyer to investigate the claim. He and say there was clearly nothing wrong.
鈥淚t鈥檚 false. It鈥檚 sad that the campaign would stoop to that level,鈥� McKay said.
鈥淚鈥檝e got an 11-year track record of enormous success as a supervisor, of ethical leadership. And at the end of this campaign to have somebody put out something completely false and vicious, a personal attack on me 鈥� I wasn鈥檛 going to stand for it,鈥� he added.
The chairman represents more than 1 million people who live in Fairfax County. The winner of this first Democratic primary for the office in decades is expected to be a heavy favorite this fall.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an unfortunate distraction in a campaign that is vital to the future of the county, and I think this is the type of vicious political attacks that people have had enough of. It鈥檚 very Trump-like in its tack and its angle, and I think Democrats and residents of Fairfax County in particular are fed up with that, and I know it鈥檒l backfire on him,鈥� McKay said.
Chapman called the information in the memo circulated by his campaign 鈥渢roubling and sad.鈥�
McKay questioned Chapman鈥檚 links to Republicans, including a $15,000 donation to Ken Cuccinelli鈥檚 campaign.
鈥淭hat donation was stupid, thoughtless and ill-conceived, and my wife told me not to do it,鈥� said聽Chapman, who pointed to more recent donations to Democrats, including Tom Perriello.
鈥淚f things are going to move forward in this county, we need to push past any establishment purity test,鈥� Chapman said.
At-Large School Board Member Ryan McElveen and activist, professor and lawyer Alicia Plerhoples round out the ballot June 11.
Chapman has loaned his campaign more than $800,000 in this election cycle.
Without including loans, McKay had raised the most money as of the end of March: $307,639. McElveen鈥檚 campaign has raised $111,947, including about $25,000 in McElveen鈥檚 own loans. Plerhoples had raised $91,882.
草莓传媒 will have a complete preview of the chairman鈥檚 race before Primary Day.
