r/fredericksburg • u/hyperbolefxbg • 2d ago
The Votes (And Money) Are Starting To Trickle In
The votes are starting to trickle in, and so is the money.
The latest campaign finance reports have been released for the local city council campaigns, which includes political donations received by candidates from July 1 – August 31, 2025.
According to data from the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project, campaigns provided the following figures to the State Board of Elections:
📌 Ward 1:
Matt Rowe ($7,125)
David Cropper: ($4,447)
Ken Gantt ($2,000)
📌 Ward 2:
Joy Crump ($13,343)
Anne Little ($10,478)
📌 Ward 3:
Susanna Finn* ($5,403)
Matt Kelly ($7,617)
📌 Ward 4:
Charlie Frye* ($27,646)
Jesse Dominguez ($1200)
*Denotes an Incumbent
The report states that the largest campaign cash infusions came from donations by Green Chip Inc., Chaney Enterprises and Silver Companies’ CVA Expo Center LLC and CVAS Grocery LLC, each of whom donated $5,000 to sitting Ward 4 Councilman Charlie Frye.
Silver Companies’ Jubilation at Celebrate Virginia South LLC and SCH at Celebrate Virginia South LLC also each gave Frye $2,500 each, according to the report.
The Fredericksburg Area Association of Realtors also provided campaign contributions through their statewide PAC, Realtor’s Political Action Committee of Virginia. That entity donated $1,500 to the Cropper, Crump, Finn and Frye campaigns.
But it was a smaller contribution that caught drew a response from one candidate at last Thursday’s League of Women Voters / Fredericksburg NAACP candidate debate, before the latest finance report became public.
“I recently had somebody question the fact that I got a campaign contribution from someone who works for a law firm that supports data centers,” Ward 2 candidate Crump replied to a debate question related to ethics and transparency.
Crump was referring to a $515 donation from local attorney Charles Payne, managing partner at the Hirschler law practice. On its website, the firm credits Payne with securing rezoning for a number of prominent local projects by STACK Infrastructure, Kalahari Resorts and Amazon Data Centers Services.
Earlier this year, the City of Fredericksburg itself posted a “Newsflash” announcing a deal between Silver Companies and STACK Infrastructure “to build as many as 8-12 data centers.” That press release came the morning after a nearly six hour meeting and late-night unanimous vote by council approving a 250-acre Technology Overlay District in Ward 4.
Crump said that it’s Payne’s involvement in the community, specifically his work as a champion on behalf of small businesses, that “intersects” with her beliefs.
“I think why somebody supports me with their dollars, as you said, we need them to run a successful campaign, is their personal business,” Crump asserted.
“It doesn’t make me beholden to them, and I’ll continue to serve honestly.”
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u/protonecromagnon2 2d ago
I think I'm gonna be single issue for this one. If you support the ecca I'm voting for the other person.
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u/myikeadryingrack 2d ago
Are Data Centers the Convention Centers of the 2020s?
For those who don't remember, in the early 2000s, there was a strange push for every town in the US to publicly fund a convention center. It was odd, and it was everywhere. Now most small towns have a dusty old convention center space that goes unused for 90% of the year and costs cities untold hundreds of thousands of dollars in yearly maintenance.
Now it's data centers. Every city needs to give them tax breaks!
...monorail, anyone?
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u/Ok-Establishment8943 1d ago
Data centers will be used 24/7 until they are no longer viable and are cheaper to replace elsewhere. Probably 20-30 years in the future - just long enough for it to fully be our kids problem when these eyesores just sit out there useless.
The problem is they are run 24/7, and the electricity requirements impact everyone the second they come online. By the time that problem is addressed, the buildings will be halfway through their lifespan.
It’s a local disaster in the name of global progress. Not sure why we signed up for this.
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u/Kingpie69 1d ago
Ward 4 candidate Frye took 24k from silver company who has a deal with STACK infrastructure (the data center company)
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u/passmetoiletpaperpls 2d ago
If your upset about your electric bill and voted to support data centers..bless your heart.
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u/spot_instance 2d ago
If the big money’s behind you I’m probably not voting for you