We thought it would be worthwhile to take a look at the funding sources for campaigns and other political activity in the town of Purcellville. This is the second post of this series – the first post which covers the Mayoral candidates can be found here:
In this post, we will specifically be discussing the six candidates who are running for Council Member seats and some of the impressions that we have from reviewing their 2026 financial reports for activity up to August 31, 2026.
Since we have continually faced claims of bias and unfairness, and since this is our own “obviously biased” analysis, so we encourage each voter to review finance reports for themselves at the State Board of Elections (SBE) website: https://cfreports.elections.virginia.gov/
Additional analytics are available via the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP): https://www.vpap.org. VPAP utilizes the data from the State Board of Elections website, but it may or may not include the most recent data. In reviewing VPAP we did find that some information did not match what we found on the SBE website. (The largest omission we found is the fact that Citizens For Purcellville’s financial reporting is not yet available on VPAP.)
For the purposes of this analysis, we are only looking at contributions in Calendar Year 2026, however we have also tried to provide a little background information for each candidate’s financial status entering 2026 where applicable. The majority of the six council member candidates do not have previous financial reporting due to this being their first candidacy.
We have also chosen to omit most specific donor information from this report, with the exception of the Brown Family, which has an extensive history of financially backing candidates in town elections over multiple election cycles. We are including specific information related to campaign contributions by the Browns due to the fact that Sam Brown is one of the candidates in the race, which we believe gives us more leeway into naming their specific financial involvement. We have also specifically called out financial support from Carl “Ben” Nett, which we feel is reasonable and prudent given his specific role as an elected official, an individual found by jury to have violated town policy and the Virginia Conflicts of Interest Act. (by clear and convincing evidence).
Our analysis of the candidates is presented in the order in which they are listed on the November 2026 General Election ballot.
This analysis contains information as reported through August 31, 2026 at the State Board of Elections website. Financial reports were due on September 15th, and we have worked diligently to provide details as clearly and factually as possible.
We are open to questions, comments, and general discussion as long as it remains civil. Please feel free to post comments or contact us via DM or on our website.
QUICK LINKS
FINAL ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSIONS
MITCH S. SEIPT
(First Time Candidate for Town Council)
This is Mitch’s first time running for public office. He has only one candidate campaign committee on record in the Virginia State Board of Elections (SBE) database:
‘Seipt for Purcellville’ is the name of his campaign committee. Based on SBE reports, his campaign committee for the 2026 election was established on or about January 15, 2026. (With original action by his committee to file a Statement of Qualification and appoint a treasurer on January 5, 2026). His committee was formed as a new entity and has at least one amendment on file with SBE.
As a newly formed committee with no previous candidacies, the ‘Seipt for Purcellville’ committee entered this election cycle with a zero balance. To date, the committee has filed 4 scheduled reports, one report (filed on 4/15/2026) was amended on (6/30/2026) to include an in-kind donation that was not originally reported. This amendment was likely an honest omission that was subsequently corrected after recognizing the error/omission.
INCOME
As of the last finance report (submitted on September 15, 2026), Seipt for Purcellville had deposited a total of $4,059 in direct contributions and this election cycle. These deposits include:
- Personal Direct Contribution: $0. This is money contributed to the campaign by the candidate with no expectation of reimbursement.
- Reported Donor Direct Contributions: $2,251.00 (6 Contributions) Reported donors have contributed more than $100 cumulatively in this election cycle. Donations from this donor group ranged from $101 – $1000 (Mean: $375.17, Median: $225, Mode: $200)
- Small Direct Contributions Less than or Equal to $100: $1,808.00. (26 total contributions)
In addition to direct cash contributions, the committee reported In-Kind Contributions totalling: $560.00. The bulk of this was an in-kind contribution of $540 from a political consulting firm in Leesburg, VA (Politically Connect, LLC).
In addition to direct cash contributions, the committee reported In-Kind Contributions totalling: $560.00. The bulk of this was an in-kind contribution of $540 from a political consulting firm in Leesburg, VA (Politically Connect, LLC).
LOANS
The committee reported no loans taken in any report filed to date.
EXPENDITURES
The bulk of the committee’s cash expenditures ($2,578.80 in direct expenses) is directly related to campaign activities.
As of August 31st, the committee has total expenditures of $3,138.8 (actual + in-kind).
| Expenditures | |||
| Campaign Signs or Printed Material (including sign permits) | $1,988.54 | ||
| In-Kind Expenditure: Political Consulting | $560.00 | ||
| Other Marketing: Headshots | $295.00 | ||
| Mailing Related Expenses (Voter Lists / Postage) | $111.75 | ||
| Administrative Cost (Fees) | $111.22 | ||
| Website / Social Media Presence / Online Advertising | $52.36 | ||
| Campaign T-Shirts | $19.93 | ||
| Total Expenditures | $3,138.80 | ||
REPORTED CASH ON HAND (as of August 31, 2026): $1,480.20
DONOR ANALYSIS
Utilizing the campaign’s filed financial reports, we have attempted to match reported donors to known industries based on public information and job descriptions. While we believe that we have been thorough and diligent in our research and analysis, note that there may be errors in this data.
Of the $2,251.00 in large contributions, a significant portion ($1,101.00) appears to be from two family members who share a common last name with the candidate. The remaining $1,150 comes from 4 other donors who are reported by the committee as retired or work in the defense and construction industries.
Mitch’s committee did not accept reported contributions from any political candidates in the Purcellville town council or mayoral races, or from any elected official (local, state, or federal).
PAUL E. MCCRAY
(First Time Candidate for Town Council)
This is Paul’s first time running for public office. He has only one candidate campaign committee on record in the Virginia State Board of Elections (SBE) database:
‘Friends of Paul McCray’ is the name of his campaign committee. Based on SBE reports, his campaign committee for the 2026 election was established on or about January 25, 2026. (With original action by his committee to file a Statement of Qualification and appoint a treasurer on January 23rd and 25th, 2026 respectively). His committee was formed as a new entity.
As a newly formed committee with no previous candidacies, the ‘Friends of Paul McCray’ committee entered this election cycle with a zero balance. To date, the committee has filed 4 scheduled reports. One report (filed on 4/9/2026) was amended (on 4/16/2026). This amendment corrected minor error/omissions in donor information (name changes, address changes, or employer/job description changes). These amendments have no consequence to the actual financials provided by the candidate.
INCOME
As of the last finance report (submitted on September 15, 2026), Friends of Paul McCray had deposited a total of $2,642.67 in direct cash contributions this election cycle. These deposits include:
- Personal Direct Contribution: $200.00. This is money contributed to the campaign by the candidate with no expectation of reimbursement.
- Reported Donor Direct Contributions: $2,236.22 (11 Contributions) Reported donors have contributed more than $100 cumulatively in this election cycle. Donations from this donor group ranged from $101 – $500 (Mean: $221.47, Median: $200, Mode: $104.48)
- Small Direct Contributions Less than or Equal to $100: $206.45. (6 total contributions)
In addition to direct cash contributions, the committee reported In-Kind Contributions totalling: $1,140.00. This included large in-kind contributions of $540 from a political consulting firm in Leesburg, VA (Politically Connect, LLC) and discounted printing and copying services from Purcellville Copy.
LOANS
The committee reported no loans taken in any report filed to date.
EXPENDITURES
The bulk of the committee’s cash expenditures ($1,996.51 in direct expenses) is directly related to printing of campaign materials or the placement of yard signs. The committee also received in-kind services or discounts that were reported ($1,140 in total), and had administrative fees, mostly related to credit card processing of donations.
As of August 31st, the committee has total expenditures of $3,136.51 (actual + in-kind).
| Expenditures | |||
| Campaign Signs or Printed Material (including sign permits) | $1,928.52 | ||
| In-Kind Expenditure: Political Consulting | $540.00 | ||
| In-Kind Expenditure: Printing and Copying | $500.00 | ||
| In-Kind Expenditure: Small / Uncategorized | $100.00 | ||
| Administrative Cost (Fees) | $67.99 | ||
| Total Expenditures | $3,136.51 | ||
REPORTED CASH ON HAND (as of August 31, 2026): $646.16
DONOR ANALYSIS
Utilizing the campaign’s filed financial reports, we have attempted to match reported donors to known industries based on public information and job descriptions. While we believe that we have been thorough and diligent in our research and analysis, note that there may be errors in this data.
Of the $2,436.22 in large contributions, approximately half of the committee’s donations come from individuals reported as retired. The other 50% is spread across a variety of donors with a diverse background, both residents in town and individuals that are likely out of town friends and/or former colleagues. Paul’s committee did accept reportable cash donations from two county supervisors, but did not accept contributions from any candidate in the Purcellville town council or mayoral races.
KEVIN B. WRIGHT
(Incumbent Candidate for Town Council)
Kevin is an incumbent town council member running for reelection in his second election. He was elected to a partial term in November of 2024 in a special election.
Kevin has two candidate committees on record in the Virginia State Board of Elections (SBE) database that we could identify:
His final committee report for the “Friends of Kevin Wright” committee indicated that his previous campaign ended the 2024 election cycle with a zero balance, so his new campaign began without any financial reserves from previous election cycles.
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‘Kevin B Wright 4 Purcellville’ is the name of his current campaign committee. Based on SBE reports, his campaign committee for the 2026 election was established on or about June 5, 2026. (With original action by his committee to file a Statement of Qualification on May 26, 2026). His committee was formed as a new entity as opposed to an amendment from his previous campaign committee.
To date, the committee has filed 3 scheduled reports and zero amendments.
INCOME
As of the last finance report (submitted on September 15, 2026), Kevin B Wright 4 Purcellville had deposited a total of $99.00 in direct cash contributions this election cycle. These deposits include:
Personal Direct Contribution: $0. This is money contributed to the campaign by the candidate with no expectation of reimbursement.
Reported Donor Direct Contributions: $0. (0 Contributions) Reported donors have contributed more than $100 cumulatively in this election cycle.
Small Direct Contributions Less than or Equal to $100: $99.00. (1 total contribution)
In addition to direct cash contributions, the committee reported In-Kind Contributions totalling: $1,469.12. These in-kind contributions came from the candidate himself or Erin Rayner’s candidate committee (Friends of Erin Rayner 2026). These contributions breakdown as follows:
| In-Kind Donations | ||
| Friends of Erin Rayner – Yard Signs & Permit | $460.00 | |
| Friends of Erin Rayner – Printed Materials | $185.50 | |
| Kevin Wright (Personal) – Yard Signs | $823.62 | |
| Total In-Kind Contributions | $1,469.12 | |
LOANS
The committee reported no loans taken in any report filed to date.
EXPENDITURES
Because the committee’s activities consist wholly of in-kind donations, it has reported no cash expenditures.
The value of in-kind expenditures the committee has reported is $1,469.12 (actual + in-kind). All reported in-kind contributions were for the purchase of printed materials or the placement of yard signs (materials and permits).
REPORTED CASH ON HAND (as of August 31, 2026): $99.00
DONOR ANALYSIS
With the exception of one $99 cash contribution that falls below the mandated reporting limit for donors, Kevin’s campaign is entirely funded either by himself or through contributions by the Friends of Erin Rayner committee.
This places Kevin as the most closely aligned candidate to Erin Rayner with regards to campaign finance.
H. SAM BROWN, JR
(Candidate for Town Council, Unsuccessfully Ran for Council in 2010 )
Sam is running in his second election. He ran unsuccessfully in 2010 for town council, coming in fifth in that election.
Citizens for Purcellville is unable to identify the name of his 2010 election candidate committee. His current committee is Sam Brown for Purcellville:
Based on SBE reports, his campaign committee for the 2026 election was established on or about June 8, 2026. (With original action by his committee to file a Statement of Qualification on May 26, 2026). His committee was formed as a new entity as opposed to an amendment from his previous campaign committee.
To date, the committee has filed 3 scheduled reports and zero amendments.
INCOME
As of the last finance report (submitted on September 15, 2026), Sam Brown for Purcellville had reported a total of $3,620.55 in direct cash contributions from one contributor this election cycle.
The contribution is reported as a single transaction from Ben Nett.
In reviewing the financial statements of the Bertaut Council Slate, we believe that this cash contribution was accidentally misclassified by the Brown Campaign and should have been reported as an in-kind contribution. The sum of $3,620.55 exactly matches in-kind contributions declared by both Hank Speckhardt’s and Chris Bertaut’s campaigns for the actual cost of campaign mailers sent by Ben Nett.
In addition to the reported direct cash contribution from Nett, the committee reported In-Kind Contributions totalling: $1,565.49. These in-kind contributions came from Mayor Bertaut’s campaign committee and were entirely related to the signs placed around town.
LOANS
The committee reported no loans taken in any report filed to date.
EXPENDITURES
The committee has reported no cash expenditures, but there is a potential discrepancy in the reporting, which would increase the reported expenditures by the same amount of the Ben Nett cash contribution that was reported.
The value of in-kind expenditures the committee has reported is $1,469.12 (actual + in-kind). All reported in-kind contributions were for the purchase of printed materials or the placement of yard signs (materials and permits).
REPORTED CASH ON HAND (as of August 31, 2026): $3,620.55*
*We believe that this reported ending balance is incorrect and that Sam Brown for Purcellville has not actually taken in any cash, but rather this is an incorrectly classified in-kind donation. Attempts to reach the candidate for comment have gone unanswered.
DONOR ANALYSIS
Our analysis of the filed reports show that the campaign is funded 100% from contributions by Mayor Bertaut (32.4%) or Ben Nett (67.6%). The total value of these contributions is reported as $4,825.74.
GREG F. PARIS
(First Time Candidate for Town Council)
This is Greg’s first time running for public office. He has only one candidate campaign committee on record in the Virginia State Board of Elections (SBE) database:
Based on SBE reports, his campaign committee for the 2026 election was established on or about June 9, 2026. (With action by his committee to file a Statement of Qualification on June 8, 2026). His committee was formed as a new entity.
To date, the committee has filed 3 scheduled reports and zero amendments.
EDITOR’S NOTE: While the ‘Greg F. Paris for Town Council’ committee has filed three timely financial reports, the reports appear to be incomplete or contain incorrectly submitted financial information. All reports submitted by the campaign committee appear to contain zero contributions (including both direct cash contributions and in-kind contributions). The committee also reported zero expenditures (actual or in-kind).
As a candidate who has yard signs up supporting his campaign around town, the committee is required to report the in-kind contribution (actual cost) of the placement of those signs. Failure to do so represents a potential violation of Virginia Campaign Finance law and requirements and may expose the candidate to potential civil penalties.
Citizens for Purcellville reached out to Mr. Paris on September 16, 2026 to point out the errors in financial reporting. This is the conversation we had with Mr. Paris via email:
Following this exchange, we monitored the SBE website for any amendments or other filings by his campaign. As of September 27, 2026, no additional response from Mr Paris has been received and no amendments to his campaign finance reports have been recorded in the SBE database.
INCOME / EXPENDITURES
Because Mr. Paris’ committee reports have “zero” contributions reported, we can not independently validate any income or expenditure information for this committee. However, given the close relationship of this candidate to Mayor Bertaut and the rest of the Bertaut Slate, we would estimate that the Paris campaign reports would be very similar to (and possibly identical to the report submitted by Mr. Speckhardt (his campaign finance review is included below):
LOANS
The committee reported no loans taken in any report filed to date.
REPORTED CASH ON HAND (as of August 31, 2026): $0.00
DONOR ANALYSIS
Again, due to the nature of the committee’s filed reports, we are unable to validate this committee’s finances or analyze the details of donors, however given the nature of campaign alliances and estimated expenditures (based on visual confirmation of signage around town and mailings received by voters), we would estimate with fair certainty that Mr. Paris’ contributions consist entirely of support from Mayor Bertaut and Ben Nett.
HANK J. SPECKHARDT
(First Time Candidate for Town Council)
This is Hank’s first time running for public office. He has only one candidate campaign committee on record in the Virginia State Board of Elections (SBE) database:
Based on SBE reports, his campaign committee for the 2026 election was established on or about June 11, 2026. (With action by his committee to file a Statement of Qualification on June 12, 2026). His committee was formed as a new entity..
To date, the committee has filed 3 scheduled reports and zero amendments.
INCOME
Speckhardt for Town Council follows a very similar line of contributions and expenses as the Sam Brown for Purcellville committee.
As of the last finance report (submitted on September 15, 2026), Speckhardt for Town Council had reported a total of $0.00 direct cash contributions, but rather all expenses in support of his campaign activities have been paid for an donated as in-kind contributions from Mayor Bertaut’s campaign funds or by Ben Nett.
These In-Kind Contributions from Nett and Bertaut sources total: $4,825.74 and were entirely related to the signs placed around town or mailings sent on Speckhardt’s behalf..
LOANS
The committee reported no loans taken in any report filed to date.
EXPENDITURES
Because the committee’s activities consist wholly of in-kind donations, it has reported no cash expenditures.
The value of in-kind expenditures the committee has reported is $4,825.74. All reported in-kind contributions were for the purchase of printed materials or the placement of yard signs (materials and permits) or targeted direct mailing costs.
REPORTED CASH ON HAND (as of August 31, 2026): $0.00
DONOR ANALYSIS
Our analysis of the filed reports show that the campaign is funded 100% from contributions by Mayor Bertaut (32.4%) or Ben Nett (67.6%). These percentages are the same as reported by the Sam Brown for Purcellville committee.
FINAL ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSIONS
Review of the six candidates presents a widely varying range of fundraising and campaign finance strategies.
- Three of the candidates (Brown, Paris, and Speckhardt) appear to rely wholly on direct support and funding from either Mayor Bertaut or Ben Nett. Tying them directly together as a consolidated slate.
- Kevin Wright, with the exception of a single $99.00 cash contribution from an unknown donor, is backed by in-kind donations, primarily self funded (52.5%) with significant contributions from Erin Rayner’s campaign (41.1%).
- Mitch Seipt and Paul McCray have worked as independent candidates, each raising their own funds and working separately from either of the mayoral candidates. This would appear to indicate that while they may be aligned with other candidates philosophically on certain issues, they are each independently working towards their own election.
- Seipt and McCray both report identical in-kind contributions for political consulting from a Leesburg based consulting organization, so there may have been some collaboration between those two candidates, but there is insufficient evidence to determine if they both received identical services (or possibly met with the consultant together.)
- The reporting made by Greg Paris’ campaign is the most troubling of all six candidates, with potential campaign finance violations and the potential for civil penalties as a result. While it is likely that omissions in contributions was unintentional, it is troubling that timely action to correct these discrepancies has not yet been taken. Despite the candidate being made aware of possible violations, it would appear that amendments to reports have not been filed.
- The nature of in-kind reporting would seem to indicate that the Bertaut slate of candidates has outspent the other three opposing candidates, however it is important to recognize that “common spending” is reported as separate and equal income by each campaign. A single mailing collectively supporting the Bertaut slate that might cost a one-time expenditure of $3,200 would be reported as an in-kind contribution by each campaign. This results in an inflated combined expense total of $12,800 vs the single $3,200 actual cost of the single mailer.
The reports would indicate that there are two distinct campaign-finance models in the race: Consolidated slates and independent fundraising.
- The Bertaut slate appears to be wholly united both in financing and platform ideology.
- Rayner and Wright also appear to be closely aligned in financing and ideology (based on established voting record since January 2025).
- Seipt and McCray have focused much more effort into grassroots contributions and individual contributions, with both of these campaigns reporting a significantly deeper base of supporters (32 different finance sources for Seipt and 17 sources for McCray).
Removing in-kind contributions: Seipt reports the highest cash contributions: $4,059.00. McCray comes in second with $2,642.00.
When adjusting “paired in-kind contributions” for proportionate share, the candidates come out in this estimated order for total income/support (cash + in-kind contributions):
Seipt: $4,379.00
McCray: $3,512.67
Speckhardt*: $2,380.63
Brown*: $2,380.63
Paris*: $2,380.63
Wright: $1,469.12
*Estimated total expenditures by the Brown, Paris, and Speckhardt campaigns considering consolidated expenditures and previously reported campaign finance reporting discrepancies.