Attorney General Bob McDonnell, the all-butofficial Republican nominee for governor, is outpacing his three Democratic rivals in the race for cash, raising $1.6 million over the past six months.
That gave him more than $2 million on hand at the start of the year and an edge over the Democrats, who are heading for a costly battle ahead of a June 9 primary.
Campaign finance reports for statewide candidates were due yesterday to the State Board of Elections. The reports cover fundraising from July 1 to Dec. 31.
Former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe, known for his fundraising prowess, collected more than $947,500 since entering the race in November. He had $718,000 on hand as of Dec. 31. Twelve donors accounted for $550,000.
Brian J. Moran, who recently resigned his seat representing Alexandria in the House of Delegates, brought in $761,893 in the last six months of the year but spent more than that in the same time frame. His campaign ended 2008 with $769,600 on hand.
"We made a strategic decision early on that this wasn't a race that was going to be won by who's going to put the most late television advertisements on air, it's by who's going to build the best early grass-roots organization," said Moran campaign spokesman Jesse Ferguson.
Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, raised more than $610,500 in the six-month period in his gubernatorial committee. Including his Senate committee funds, his total pool is $658,000. Collectively, Deeds has $891,000 on hand.
Deeds and other lawmakers are barred from raising money during the 46-day General Assembly session that began Wednesday. Moran no longer faces that restriction.
"We've said all along that if you want a campaign message that's focused on fundraising, fundraising and more fundraising, then Creigh Deeds is not your guy," said campaign spokesman Peter Jackson. "Virginia voters are going to know they have a choice in this election."
This is the first serious Democratic gubernatorial nomination battle in 24 years, noted Robert D. Holsworth, a political analyst who runs VirginiaTomorrow.com.
It's still unclear how McAuliffe will play in Virginia because he's relatively new on the state political scene, Holsworth said. He said Moran and Deeds are well-liked and well-respected by Democrats but that many wonder if either would be as strong as McDonnell in a general election campaign.
"The Democratic race, I think, is fairly wide-open right now if Deeds can raise enough money to be competitive," said Holsworth, stressing the fundraising freeze during the legislative session.
McDonnell's fundraising "shows that people believe that Bob McDonnell is a very credible candidate; he's the kind of Republican who is a social conservative but still can attract business dollars," Holsworth said.
McAuliffe's camp pointed to the amount of support from Virginians.
"We really focused on raising money from Virginians for the exploratory period because we wanted to see what kind of support there was for Terry's candidacy," said campaign spokeswoman Delacey Skinner, "and we were very happy with the result."
Contact Olympia Meola at (804) 649-6812 or omeola@timesdispatch.com.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement