"Their House Is On Fire" - VA Democrats Trounce Republicans In New Fundraising Filings
AP News: Virginia Democrats see surge in campaign fundraising
Virginia Democrats are outraising Republicans in the lead up to a closely watched legislative election, according to newly filed campaign finance reports for July and August.
New campaign finance reports show House Democratic candidates leapfrogged Republicans to gain a $1 million cash on hand advantage after House Republicans had a slight cash advantage at the end of June.
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Virginia’s legislative elections are widely viewed as a potential bellwether for the 2020 presidential contest. Once a key swing state, Virginia Democrats have enjoyed recent electoral success thanks in part to suburban voters unhappy with President Donald Trump fleeing the GOP.
Washington Post: Democrats lead in fundraising for Virginia’s hard-fought legislative races
Virginia Democrats surged in fundraising over the summer, building a lead over Republicans in total cash reserves heading toward this fall’s crucial legislative elections.
Democratic candidates for the House of Delegates reported a total of $8.6 million cash on hand as of Aug. 31, compared with $7.7 million for Republican House candidates, according to the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project.
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The big money generally flowed to hotly contested seats where Democrats are hoping to make gains...“Republicans are getting outraised and outworked,” Democratic Party of Virginia spokesman Jacob Rubenstein said. “Their house is on fire.”
House Democrats have a nearly $1 million cash advantage over Republicans in their bid to take control of the state’s lower chamber ahead of November’s pivotal elections. New campaign finance filings show Democratic candidates in the House had $8.6 million on hand as of Aug. 31, compared with Republicans’ $7.7 million.
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Democrats’ balance in the House was more than twice the $3.7 million they had on hand at this point in 2017, while House Republicans’ balance was only slightly more than the $7.4 million they had at this stage two years ago,
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Combining both chambers, Democratic candidates have a total cash advantage of more than $500,000, boosted in part by heightened national attention on Virginia’s closely watched legislative races.
Daily Press: Summertime, and for candidates, the living is ... all about fundraising
Democratic candidates for the House of Delegates and state Senate raised $8.3 million this summer, compared to the $6.5 million GOP candidates received. That means, headed into the post-Labor day sprint for votes, that Democratic candidates for the House have a combined war chest of $8.6 million versus the GOP slate’s $7.7 million.
All in all, it makes for a big reversal from the past -- House Democrats’ combined campaign funds are more than double the $3.7 million they had on hand at this point in the 2017 campaign, when they nearly took control of the chamber, winning 15 seats. GOP candidates fundraising has left them about where they were in 2017, when their campaign fund balances at this point amounted to $7.4 million.
There’s a similar story in the senate. Democrats’ combined campaign funds are up nearly 40% from where they were at this point in 2015, the last time the senate was up for election. Republicans are up 10%.
Campaign finance reports filed Monday show Democrats out-raising Republicans in several hotly contested state elections taking place in Prince William County.
Democratic candidates in six local races – for the 13th, 31st, 40th, 50th and 51st state House districts and the 13th state Senate District -- raised $1 million in July and August. That's about 30 percent more than their Republican opponents, who raised $688,000 in the same period. Seats in four of those districts -- the 13th, 31st, 50th and 51st -- were recently won by Democrats in 2017’s “blue wave” election that propelled Democrats to within one seat of controlling the House of Delegates and state Senate. Until 2017, most of those seats had been controlled by longtime Republican incumbents.
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