Dwight Schar is accustomed to spreading cash around. Contacted about why he gave so much money during the last election cycle, he immediately joked about buying his way off the Mother Jones 400. "Are you calling to say that if I give you money, you won't put me on the list?" he laughed.
Schar, a former schoolteacher, entered the housing business when he took a weekend sales job at Ryan Homes. He eventually bought the company. Schar is now chairman and CEO of NVR, Inc., a homebuilding and mortgage banking conglomerate with operations in 10 states.
In his home state of Virginia, Schar has long been known as a Republican mover-and-shaker. He sits with approximately 100 other businessmen on the Northern Virginia Roundtable, an influential group that presses state lawmakers to enact pro-business policy. The business journal Regardie's Power recently called Schar "a force to be reckoned with in Virginia politics," and named him to its list of the 100 most powerful private citizens in Washington, D.C.
Schar was pulled beyond his local sphere of influence by George W. Bush, whom he calls the "most qualified guy in the United States." In February 1999, Schar was part of a Virginia delegation that went to Austin to lunch with Bush and urge him to run for the White House. When Bush entered the race, Schar was pleased. The Texas governor pledged to support efforts to limit court awards against companies found guilty of harming workers and consumers. "I believe in tort reform," Schar says.
Once Bush threw his hat in the ring, Schar became his finance co-chair in Virginia. He used his connections among local businessmen to raise money for Bush -- and he used his connection with Bush to raise money for local politicians. In 1999, Bush attended a fundraiser at Schar's home -- not for his own campaign, but to support Republican candidates for state office in Virginia.
-- Pam Smith
