Heading into the November 2020 elections, Virginia is likely to see two highly competitive U.S. House races – in VA02 (Democratic Rep. Elaine Luria, most likely vs. Republican Scott Taylor or Ben Loyola) and VA07 (Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger, most likely vs. Republican Nick Freitas or John McGuire). One might also throw in VA01 and VA05 as potentially competitive races, but those are fairly “red” districts, so it will be tough. Anyway, for now, let’s take a quick look at how VA02 and VA07 are looking, as end-of-year campaign finance numbers pour in to the Federal Elections Commission.
VA02
Rep. Elaine Luria (D): $525,437 in net contributions this period (10/1-12/31/19); $1,569,135 cash on hand as of 12/31/19.
Scott Taylor (R): (NOTE: Taylor’s listed under U.S. Senate candidates, even though he’s switched back to running for VA02) $317,216 in net contributions this period (10/1-12/31/19); $163,789 cash on hand as of 12/31/19.
Ben Loyola (R): $97,838 in net contributions this period (10/1-12/31/19); $78,103 cash on hand as of 12/31/19.
Andy Baan (R): $3,553 in net contributions this period (10/1-12/31/19); $22,747 cash on hand as of 12/31/19.
BOTTOM LINE: Rep. Luria is crushing the two Republican candidates in fundraising and in cash on hand, where it’s Luria with around 5x as much money as Taylor and nearly 20x as much as Loyola.
VA07
Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D): $810,952 in net contributions this period (10/1-12/31/19); $2,176,162 cash on hand as of 12/31/19.
Nick Freitas (R): $221,371 in net contributions this period (10/1-12/31/19); $195,247 cash on hand as of 12/31/19. Also note that Freitas’ money came heavily from the
“Club for Growth” — $86,080 out of the $221,371 Freitas claimed in the fourth quarter of 2019. For more on the far-right, shadowy “Club for Growth,” click here, including that it is “part of a ‘national strategy’ to get ‘newly elected Republican governors’ to destroy labor and unions”; “an organization funded by extremely wealthy conservatives to carry out their budget-stripping goals” Interestingly, the “Club for Growth” “spent nearly $8 million” on the 2016 presidential election, “including a little more than $7 million against Donald Trump during the Republican primary.” According to FactCheck.org, “Club for Growth Action’s money in the last campaign cycle came largely from three conservative donors. Richard Uihlein, the chief executive officer of Uline, a shipping, packaging and industrial supplies company, gave the PAC $4.25 million. The other two major donors were Jackson Stephens Jr. and his brother, Warren — the sons of the late Jackson Stephens, who was CEO of a privately held financial services company called Stephens Inc.” Anyway…without that “Club for Growth” money, Freitas’ fundraising totals in the fourth quarter would have been a LOT less impressive – in fact, less than his main Republican rival, John McGuire.
John McGuire (R): $165,092 in net contributions this period (10/1-12/31/19); $152,516 cash on hand as of 12/31/19.
Tina Ramirez: $51,086 in net contributions this period (10/1-12/31/19); $19,742 cash on hand as of 12/31/19 (note: she spent more than she raised in the fourth quarter, which obviously is not what you want to be doing…).
Pete Greenwald: $10,671 in net contributions this period (10/1-12/31/19); $6,191 cash on hand as of 12/31/19.
Andrew Knaggs: N.A.
Jason Roberge: N.A.
BOTTOM LINE: Rep. Spanberger is crushing her two main Republican rivals in terms of money, with around 4x as much raised in the fourth quarter, with around 11x as much cash on hand as Freitas and around 14x as much cash on hand as McGuire.
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