The latest campaign finance disclosures show the record amounts of fundraising.
Democrats have an edge in fundraising overall, but Republicans are heading into the November election with more cash on hand for House of Delegates races. The latest round of campaign finance disclosures saw a record amount of campaign cash for an off-year election, and Stephen Farnsworth at the University of Mary Washington says we're just getting started.
"Republicans have traditionally had the advantage in fundraising, but that has fallen away in recent years with Democratic gains in the legislature and in statewide offices," Farnsworth says. "Youngkin gives Republicans a chance to fight in a very competitive way with respect to the amount of money that can be put into these campaigns."
A Senate race in Loudoun, for example, has one candidate who's already raised more than a million dollars and another candidate who's raised almost half a million. David Ramadan is a former Republican delegate from that area who's now at the Schar School at George Mason University.
"This particular Senate race will probably end up being the most expensive state Senate race in the history of the Commonwealth," Ramadan says. "We will probably exceed five to six million dollars in this race.”
The Republican caucus and the Democratic caucus are both sitting on piles of cash that they'll distribute later in this election cycle, when they’ve a better idea of where the money is needed most and which candidates might need a bit more help to win.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
