The most money has been raised and spent in Hampton Roads, where incumbent Republican Jen Kiggins is dead even in the money race with former Congresswoman Elaine Luria.
In the Tidewater region, incumbent Republican Congressman Rob Wittman has four times as much money as challenger Shannon Taylor. Alex Keena at Virginia Commonwealth University says that's largely based on his support from defense industry heavy hitters like Lockheed Martin and Northrup Grumman.
"They always get the votes out of Wittman that they want," Keena says. "Right now, the Republicans want to raise defense spending to like a trillion and a half, they would get Wittman's vote. So, all of that money is going to flow through those defense contractors. They've got their man, and they're going to keep their man if they can through donations."
In the 5th Congressional District, which stretches from Charlottesville to Southside, Democratic challenger Tom Perriello has almost three times as much cash on hand as incumbent Republican John McGuire.
"We used to think that whichever candidate had the most money was the candidate most likely to win," says Jennifer Victor at George Mason University. "And that's just not as safe of an assumption as it used to be. Having more money doesn't necessarily mean you're going to win the race anymore, but it's certainly making the 5th District in Virginia look more competitive than one might have thought."
Victor says she'll be watching these races closely to see if the parties are investing in these elections or spending their money elsewhere.
