Candidates for Congress are heading into a fall campaign season with millions of dollars cash on hand.
Campaign finance disclosures show that the Democratic candidate for the 7th Congressional District in Northern Virginia, Eugene Vindman, has raised more than $7 million – the most money of any congressional candidate in Virginia – way more than his opponent Republican Derrick Anderson. And, more of Vindman’s money comes from California than Virginia.
"Anybody who gives you a dollar to your campaign is a commitment to come out and vote on Election Day if they are in that district," says David Ramadan at George Mason University's Schar School. "Therefore, it's not just out of state versus in state; it's the accessibility to voters who are invested and committed to a certain campaign."
In the 2nd Congressional District in Hampton Roads, incumbent Republican Congresswoman Jen Kiggans has almost $2 million cash on hand to take on Democrat Missy Cotter Smasal, who has less than half a million cash on hand.
"Increasingly, you're going to be looking at a Democratic Party that is playing triage," says Stephen Farnsworth at the University of Mary Washington. "Where are the best places for Democrats to invest their money? They're going to be thinking about that, and it may be that they will be looking at the 7th much more aggressively than the 2nd."
Farnsworth says Democrats will be facing a choice: invest in the 2nd to flip a red district blue or spend more money in the 7th to keep a blue district from turning red.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
