By Tara Stubblefield

The tallies are in – and Philip Morris is the winner in the category of giving gifts to Virginia legislators.

The company with deep tobacco roots in Virginia gave state lawmakers 188 gifts worth almost $26,000 last year – collectively enough to buy a shiny new car.

Republican Delegate Riley E. Ingram from Hopewell, where Philip Morris has facilities, got $3,159 in gifts from the company – more than any other legislator. The gifts included $587 worth of golf balls, $160 in World Wrestling Federation SmackDown tickets and $1,184 in airfare to New York.

Other top recipients of gifts from Philip Morris included:

• Delegate William P. Robinson, D-Norfolk, $1,096
• Sen. Henry L. Marsh III, D-Richmond, $979
• Delegate Watkins M. Abbitt, D-Appomattox, $916
• Delegate Samuel A. Nixon, R-Chesterfield, $914
• Sen. Warren E. Barry, R-Fairfax, $828
• Delegate James M. Shuler, D-Blacksburg, $783

Philip Morris was doling out its subsidiaries’ products during the holidays. The conglomerate gave legislators 88 Kraft Foods holiday gift boxes worth a total of $6,879.

Tickets were popular items on the cigarette company’s gift list. Philip Morris gave legislators more than $5,000 in tickets, mostly to attend NASCAR races.

Philip Morris also treated legislators to $9,288 in meals and gave them $1,807 in golf balls.

Peggy Roberts, a Philip Morris spokewoman, disputed the idea that the tobacco company gives gifts with the expectation of getting something in return.

Philip Morris would like to have good relationships with legislators, Roberts said. She said company officials do not discuss business with the lawmakers while entertaining them with dinners and gift baskets.

The company often has much at stake in the General Assembly.

Last year, Philip Morris faced hundreds of billions of dollars in punitive damages from a Florida civil lawsuit.

At the request of Gov. Jim Gilmore, the General Assembly passed a law protecting the company’s Virginia assets, including its local cigarette factor, from seizure by the Florida plaintiffs. Gilmore said his goal was to protect the Richmond area's largest private employer.