Campaign-finance disclosures show incumbent Republican Congressman Rob Wittman has more than four times as much cash on hand as Democratic challenger Shannon Taylor in the First Congressional District. That's the most lopsided imbalance of any of the three key congressional races this year.
“If you were only looking at campaign finance numbers, you would not think that the First District was a competitive race,” says Jennifer Victor at George Mason University.
"It does have a lot of money flowing in it, but it looks a little bit more like a typical House race where you have an incumbent who kind of runs away with it, and it's not very competitive."
Alex Keena at Virginia Commonwealth University says the fall election season will be shaped in party by how Shannon Taylor approached the primary.
"She sort of missed an opportunity because she didn't engage with her opponents. She didn't attend any of the candidate forums, and it could have been an opportunity for her, not simply to ensure that she was going to win the primary contest, but to win over some of those voters—that grassroots energy that was coming from some of the other candidates."
He says Republicans have identified this seat as one they must win at all costs if they are going to keep a majority in the House.
