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RICHMOND — Democrats running for Virginia General Assembly seats continued to outraise Republicans in campaign contributions during the month of September, but Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) began putting his foot on the gas for the GOP by making donations from his huge national fundraising haul, which is surging from his flirtation with a presidential bid.
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Democratic candidates for the House of Delegates raised a combined $8.8 million during the Sept. 1-30 reporting period, compared with $8.3 million for Republicans, according to an analysis of state data by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project. On the Senate side, Democratic candidates raised a total of almost $6.5 million for the period, compared with just over $6 million for Republicans.
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The Republican totals were boosted by Youngkin and his Spirit of Virginia political action committee, which until now had used its vast reserves more on campaigning than on direct contributions to candidates. And Spirit of Virginia had another record-breaking fundraising month of its own, bringing in more than $6.4 million between Sept. 1 and Oct. 7 — a slightly different reporting period than for individual candidates.
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The PAC has benefited from presidential buzz that has surrounded Youngkin since he flipped Virginia red as a political newcomer nearly two years ago. Youngkin says he is solely focused on legislative races until Election Day but has repeatedly teased the possibility of mounting a 2024 White House run, as with a two-day retreat he is hosting this week for national GOP megadonors in Virginia Beach.
Youngkin’s retreat to mix Virginia politics with the presidential kind
It would be an 11th-hour bid given that he has missed or is soon to miss candidate filing deadlines in three key states — Nevada (Oct. 16), New Hampshire (Oct. 27) and South Carolina (Oct. 31). But some major national GOP donors, including Florida-based Thomas Peterffy, have been urging him to jump in.
Spirit of Virginia’s haul last month included yet another $1 million from Peterffy, who also contributed $1 million to the PAC in April and again in August, for a total of $3 million.
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Another billionaire — Pennsylvania financier Jeff Yass — made a $2 million contribution Oct. 3. Yass has a reported $21 billion stake in the parent company of TikTok, a Chinese-owned app that Youngkin banned from state devices late last year as a threat to national security.
Youngkin takes $2M from TikTok investor despite app ban, China warnings
Youngkin himself — a former private equity executive worth about $470 million, Forbes estimated when he won the Executive Mansion in 2021 — gave $500,000 to Spirit of Virginia during the reporting period.
All 140 seats in the General Assembly are on the Nov. 7 ballot. Republicans are defending a slim majority in the House and trying to flip the Senate, where Democrats hold a slight edge. Full GOP control would pave the way for Youngkin to enact a conservative agenda that includes banning abortions after 15 weeks — with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the pregnant person — cutting corporate and individual taxes, and rolling back environmental standards. A sweep also would elevate Youngkin’s national profile.
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Democrats, at the same time, hope to use the legislature to block Youngkin’s efforts. Both parties are focusing on a handful of House and Senate races in closely divided suburban districts that are likely to determine which side wins a majority.
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While Democrats had the edge in fundraising during September, Republicans emerged with more cash on hand.
In House races, Republicans had about $10.8 million on hand heading into October compared with Democrats’ $9.1 million. On the Senate side, Republican candidates had a total of $5.4 million available heading into October, to Democrats’ $5.1 million.
Three of the top five Senate fundraisers were Democrats, led by Russet Perry, who faces Republican Juan Pablo Segura in Senate District 31, competitive territory that covers parts of Loudoun and Fauquier counties.
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A former CIA officer and county prosecutor, Perry raised more than $1.6 million over the period. Segura, a health-care entrepreneur who sued the Loudoun County School Board for information about the handling of sexual assaults, was the Senate’s fourth-most-prolific fundraiser for the period, with a $1 million haul.
The second-highest fundraiser was Sen. Siobhan S. Dunnavant (R-Henrico), who is seeking a third four-year term in a redrawn suburban Richmond district that now leans blue. She collected about $1.3 million — more than half of that ($727,000) from Youngkin’s PAC and most of the rest from Republican colleagues in Richmond’s upper chamber.
An OB/GYN, Dunnavant faces a challenge from Del. Schuyler T. VanValkenburg (D-Henrico), a high school civics teacher who raised just over $785,000 — the fifth-highest total.
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In third place was Sen. T. Montgomery “Monty” Mason (D-Williamsburg), who is facing a challenge in Hampton Roads swing territory from Republican Danny Diggs. Mason, who is seeking his third term in the Senate, raised about $1.2 million to Diggs’s $726,000.
As in the Senate, three of the top five House fundraisers were Democrats.
Democrat Kimberly Pope Adams raised just over $1 million in September, the most among House candidates. The university auditor is trying to unseat Del. Kim Taylor (R-Dinwiddie), who is seeking her second two-year term. Taylor raised about $903,000, the fourth-highest amount.
Freshman Del. Karen Greenhalgh (R-Virginia Beach) raised the second most among House candidates, about $979,000. An entrepreneur defending her seat in a purple district, Greenhalgh faces Democrat Michael Feggans, an Air Force veteran and small-business owner whose third-place haul was nearly $916,000.
Rounding out the top five in the House was former delegate Joshua Cole, a pastor and former Stafford County NAACP president who is running in a competitive district that includes Fredericksburg and parts of Stafford and Spotsylvania counties. Cole raised nearly $875,000 while his opponent, Republican Lee Peters, a Stafford County sheriff’s deputy, drew about $761,000.
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