Control of House will come down to few races

Control of the House of Delegates might come down to a handful of heavyweight bouts, several of which are nearing $1 million in cash raised.

Committees affiliated with the state parties and with legislative leaders are placing their bets, donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to promising challengers in marquee matchups, according to reports compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project.

"When times are tough economically, campaign contributions, particularly for lower-visibility races for the House of Delegates, are really hard for candidates to obtain," said Steve Farnsworth, a political science professor at George Mason University.

"It's one of the reasons the parties step in with donations."

The fate of the next governor's agenda could hinge on which party controls the House.

Republicans now hold 53 House seats, Democrats 45. Two independents generally vote with the Republicans. That means Democrats need to gain six seats Nov. 3 to take control of the House.

Collectively, candidates for the House of Delegates had raised more than $22 million through September. In 2007, House candidates raised a record $33 million, according to VPAP.

Democratic donors are targeting contests in Northern Virginia, where the party has had success in statewide and presidential contests since 2004.

In September alone, Democratic committees contributed $146,621 to Stevens R. Miller, a member of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors. He is trying to knock off Del. Thomas Davis Rust, R-Fairfax, a former mayor of Herndon who since 2002 has represented the district that covers parts of Fairfax and Loudoun counties.

Democratic committees also donated $123,612 in September to Gregory A. Werkheiser, who is challenging Del. David B. Albo, R-Fairfax. Werkheiser came within 800 votes of defeating Albo in 2005.

Republican committees are doubling down on Chris P. Stolle. The physician is in a rematch with Del. Joseph F. Bouchard, D-Virginia Beach, who won their 2007 match by 131 votes out of more than 9,500 cast. Republican committees donated $117,085 to Stolle in September.

In 2005, two contests for the House of Delegates topped $1 million in money spent. In 2007, that rose to 11 contests, according to VPAP.

As of Sept. 30, four of this year's most competitive contests already had topped $800,000 in money raised:

• In District 42, Albo and Werkheiser had brought in a total of $956,405.

• In District 34, Del. Margaret G. Vanderhye, D-Fairfax, and her Republican challenger, Barbara J. Comstock, had together raised $902,859.

• In District 93, Del. Phillip A. Hamilton, R-Newport News, and his Democratic challenger, Robin Abbott, had collected $828,078.

• In District 86, Rust and Miller had raised a total of $803,159.

In a notable Richmond-area contest, Democrat Thomas J. Shields raised $123,008 in September for his challenge against Del. John M. O'Bannon III, R-Henrico.

But O'Bannon finished the month with $191,557 on hand, to $47,075 for Shields.

For all the money raised and spent on both sides statewide, Farnsworth said, the result might be little change.

"I think it will be pretty close to a net of zero," he said.

"The somewhat lackluster [R. Creigh] Deeds campaign [for governor] has really eliminated the thin possibility that Democrats could win a majority of seats in the House of Delegates this cycle."

Contact Andrew Cain at (804) 649-6645 or .

Staff writer Olympia Meola and The Associated Press contributed to this report.