Political action committees are trying to influence the outcome of the election for the General Assembly.
So far, Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin has not been forking over big money from his political action committee for Senate candidates in toss-up races. Instead, he made his largest contribution for a seat that leans towards Democrats in Henrico County.
"I think the governor is playing offense because he truly believes that he is going to win," says Wes Bellamy at Virginia State University. "If you think about a couple of years back when he was running for governor, there were a lot of people who didn't think he could win. And he proved them wrong, and now you’re going to see him put his full force into some of these races so that he can take back the House and the Senate."
The Republican Speaker of the House also has a PAC, and so far the biggest dollar amount from it has gone toward a Republican in Prince William County who was secretly recorded saying he wants a 100% ban on abortion.
Mark Rozell is dean of the Schar School at George Mason University.
"The speaker’s PAC here is trying to help a Republican candidate who needs to be supported much better than he’s able to raise money for his own campaign," Rozell says. "And that suggests that the speaker’s PAC, Republicans generally believe that there is some vulnerability there for the Republican candidate who needs this extra help."
It's very likely that the biggest PAC spending is yet to come in the final few weeks of the campaign.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
