Related: Political donation tracking
Many Blacksburg residents, Tech faculty members and even a few students became involved with this year's election by donating to political campaigns.
In total, members of the Tech community have contributed a little less than $25,000 to this year's election, including donations made to PACs, congressional campaigns, the RNC and DNC, as well as the McCain and Obama campaigns.
In comparing UVa and Tech, it becomes apparent that the sum of donations from the UVa community is almost 10 times the amount from Tech. The Obama campaign, as well as the Warner campaign, received most of their donations from UVa.
Having given a $2,000 donation to the Obama campaign, a professor in the engineering school at UVa who wished to remain anonymous speculated that these differences may be because Charlottesville is possibly a more politically active area than Blacksburg. Also, he recognizes the liberal tendencies of many of his colleagues.
"The stereotype is that the professors are lefties. I think the stereotype gets in the way -- I don't think it's very useful. Academics tend to think more. I think conservative Republicans support their party for ideological reasons and reasons of religious faith. Democrats tend to be motivated by policy," the professor said.
Tech's donations have promoted a range of interests, including PACs such as the Indian Muslim PAC, the DNC Service Corps and many congressional candidates. Leon Geyer, a professor in the agriculture and applied economics department, contributed $1,000 to Nels Ackerson's congressional campaign, but in the past has donated to candidates within the realm of local government.
"It's unique that one would represent and support local candidates and campaigns. I don't see why one would not," Geyer said.
Phillip Brooks, a student at Tech, has donated almost $5,000 to the congressional campaign. Brooks donated $2,300 each to prospective Reps. Judith Feder and Gerry Connolly. This year is the first year on record that Brooks has donated to political campaigns. Brooks did not return phone calls to the Collegiate Times.
The residents of Blacksburg's ZIP code -- 24060 -- have donated a total of $146,174, nearly three times as much as the average $45,771.
The top recipients in the Blacksburg area are mainly Democratic, with presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama as the top recipient with $43,509 and Virginia Senate candidate Mark Warner coming in second with $18,600 donated. McCain is the fourth largest recipient in the area with $8,225.
The top contribution in the area was from Marcus Smith, managing director for Third Security, a private equity and venture capital firm in Radford. Smith donated $4,600 to Warner.
Steven Cochran is a Blacksburg resident and the director of human resources for HHHunt, the development company that owns Foxridge apartment homes. He is currently the second highest political contributor in the area. Cochran, a Tech alumnus, has given a total of $5,750 in campaign donations this year.
However, Cochran is not new to the political scene. He said he has been involved in politics for over 35 years, and not just through political donations. He was once the president of Young Democrats, both locally and in the state organization, and was a member of the 9th district committee and the Virginia Central Committee, which is the guiding body of the state Democratic Party.
"It just works out that I am in a place in my life right now that I have more of a disposable income that I can give more generously," Cochran said.
He now serves as the chair of the Montgomery County Democratic Party and is a delegate to the national convention for Obama this year.
Cochran's wife, Victoria Cochran, is also one of the top political donors in Blacksburg. Cochran said that since they are both strong Democrats, there has rarely been a split household when it comes to supporting candidates.
Steve Cochran said that although there is not a competition for the biggest donations in their household, they do "make each other aware when they make contributions." In one instance, he said, Victoria made a donation to attend a private reception with Michelle Obama in Norfolk hosted by Gov. Tim Kaine.
Victoria Cochran, the state coordinator for mental health and criminal justice, said that although big donations are sometimes rewarded with opportunities, such as meeting Michelle Obama, those are not the primary reason for her contributions.
"That's like the icing on the cake to get to do that," Victoria Cochran said. "Steve and I made it a goal to contribute as much as we can because of the importance of this campaign and a responsibility to Sen. Obama."
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