Weekly Recap: Three weeks before Election Day, Virginia Democratic Committees post massive fundraising numbers, Republicans worry as Democrats promise a new Virginia…
Three weeks before Election Day, Virginia Democratic Committees post massive fundraising numbers
RICHMOND, VA — Continuing the trend of Democratic candidates in Virginia outraising their Republican opponents, Democratic committees today announced massive fundraising numbers ahead of the pivotal elections on November 5.
From July — September, the money that seven statewide Democratic committees raised shows Democrats have the momentum and energy on their side:
The Democratic Party of Virginia raised $3,698,869.55
The House Democratic Caucus raised $3,338,813.40
The Senate Democratic Caucus raised $2,767,149.51
The Commonwealth Victory Fund raised $382,617.64
Eileen Filler-Corn’s Energized for Change PAC raised $510,403.49
Ralph Northam’s The Way Ahead PAC raised $425,549.91
Terry McAuliffe’s Common Good Virginia PAC raised $419,563.47
The strength of Democratic fundraising in the third quarter follows the trend of Democrats massively outraising Republicans. At the end of the second quarter in June, the Democratic Party of Virginia outraised the Republican Party of Virginia 19–1 and had $526,965 on hand compared to RPV’s $1,911. In the last fundraising period for House and Senate candidates in September, Democratic candidates had a total cash advantage of over $500,000.
Democrats double their 2015 fundraising as Virginia’s legislative elections near (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Democrats running for seats in the General Assembly continued heavy fundraising in the last month, holding a cash advantage in the House and holding a narrow the gap in the Senate.
Led by Democrats, candidates broke the previous fundraising record, according to finance disclosures filed Tuesday ahead of the state’s Nov. 5 legislative elections, when every seat in the General Assembly will be on the ballot.
The last time all General Assembly seats were up for grabs, candidates collectively had hauled in $31.4 million for their campaigns at this point in the race. That number is now $52.7 million, according to an analysis by the Virginia Public Access Project.
Most of the increase is due to heavy fundraising by Democratic candidates, who have doubled their hauls from $13.7 million at this point in 2015 to $31.7 million through September, according to VPAP’s analysis.
The latest campaign finance reports cover Sept. 1 through Sept. 30.
The biggest fundraisers during the filing period were all Democrats, led by Del. Debra Rodman, who is running for a Henrico-area Senate seat against Republican Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant and raised just over $1 million in the last month.
Rodman’s haul was followed by Del. Cheryl Turpin, who is running for the seat of retiring Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach. Turpin raised $677,000.
In the House, Del. Wendy Gooditis, D-Clarke, led with $580,000. She was followed by Sheila Bynum-Coleman, a Democrat challenging House Speaker Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights. Bynum-Coleman raised $569,000.
Virginia is one of four states holding legislative elections this fall and the the only one in which party control hangs in the balance.
Democrats promise a new Virginia if they win control of legislature. And that’s exactly what worries Republicans. (Washington Post)
RICHMOND — Former governor Terry McAuliffe whipped up fellow Democrats at a recent fundraiser by outlining what’s at stake in next month’s state election: control of the General Assembly and the power to enact a long list of Democratic priorities such as gun control, the Equal Rights Amendment and a higher minimum wage.
“Do not rest! Do not sleep!” McAuliffe exhorted. “Stop everybody you see — if they don’t stop, tackle ’em! Explain to them why this is so important. . . . We are going to make Virginia a new state.”
The next day, the Republican Party of Virginia quoted McAuliffe’s words with a different spin: “It should send shivers down your spine,” state party Chairman Jack Wilson wrote in a fundraising email that also invoked national Democratic donors. “This should be a grave warning to patriots like yourself. If the Soros-Bloomberg Democrats win the General Assembly this November — YOU WON’T RECOGNIZE VIRGINIA ANYMORE.”
If Democrats win control of the state legislature Nov. 5, they will join with Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam to exercise their first consolidated grip on state government in a generation. All 140 seats in the General Assembly are on the ballot; Republicans are defending a 20–19 edge in the Senate and a 51–48 advantage in the House of Delegates, with one vacancy in each chamber.
Virginia Democrats hope to build on gains they’ve made in two elections since President Trump, who is unpopular in the state, won the White House. And new polling suggests some momentum.
Virginia voters favor Democrats over Republicans by a slim margin, 49 percent to 42 percent, in a recent statewide Washington Post-Schar School poll, with voters who are “certain” to vote giving Democrats a slightly larger edge of 52 percent to 41 percent. And by a similar margin, registered voters appear comfortable with Democrats taking majorities alongside a Democratic governor, with 48 percent calling it a “good thing” and 42 percent a “bad thing.”
To read the full article, click here.
Gun Control Is Front And Center In Virginia Races (NPR)
Gun control has emerged as a key issue in next month’s off-year elections in Virginia, a state that is seen as a bellwether of what could come in national elections in 2020.
Republicans currently hold a razor-thin majority in both houses of the state legislature, and with all 140 seats on the ballot this year, Democrats hope to turn those chambers blue.
One race where the discussion of guns is especially fraught is in Virginia Beach, the 8th State Senate district.
Virginia Beach was the scene of a mass shooting on May 31, when a longtime city employee stalked through a municipal building armed with two .45-caliber pistols, killing 12 people and wounding four others before he was killed in a gunbattle with police.
That crime has amplified the debate over gun laws as the campaigns head into the final weeks before the Nov. 5 election.
To read the full article, click here.
Redistricting left Speaker Kirk Cox’s district up for grabs. Can his Democratic opponent capitalize? (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Down in the southern part of Chesterfield County, just north of the Appomattox River, Sheila Bynum-Coleman is likely to find some of the voters she’ll need to cross the threshold on Election Day in her bid to unseat House Speaker Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights.
Door-knocking there on a recent Saturday, Bynum-Coleman left door tags at the homes of “low-turnout Democrats” — people her campaign thinks are likely to support her if enthusiasm or duty ushers them to the polls.
At one door, 78-year-old Shirley Barksdale stepped out, waving her arms enthusiastically. The candidate had recently spoken at her church. She asked for a quick hug and promised Bynum-Coleman her vote.
This stretch of Chesterfield — which includes the majority-black community of Ettrick and Virginia State University — shifted into the 66th House District this year after federal judges imposed a new map in Virginia’s long-running racial gerrymandering case.
Out went rural areas flanking the eastern and western parts of the district. In came parts of northern Chesterfield, from just south of state Route 288 up to the Richmond line.
The moves tilted the 66th in Democrats’ favor, making vulnerable its 30-year incumbent and giving Democrats an opening — one that left-leaning groups nationwide have sought to quickly seize.
To read the full article, click here.
‘Veep’ star Julia Louis-Dreyfus explains why it’s so important to vote this Election Day!
Canvassing the Commonwealth
Over this past week, volunteers all across Virginia have been working diligently to get people out to vote!
Upcoming Events
To get your event added to the DPVA website and the newsletter, email digital@vademocrats.org with event details!
10/16 Norfolk Democratic Committee Monthly Business Meeting
10/16 GOTV Training for Northumberland and Richmond Counties
10/17 Goochland County Regular Monthly Meeting
10/17 Roanoke City Democratic Committee Monthly Meeting
10/17 Virginia Beach Strategy Meeting
10/17 GOTV Training for Lancaster County
10/17 Debra Rodman and Juanita Jo Matkins Meet and Greet in Short Pump
10/19 Get Out the Vote for Len Myers in Chesapeake
10/19 Get Out the Vote for Del. John Bell & Suhas Subramanyam in South Riding
10/19 Get Out the Vote for Del. John Bell in Ashburn
10/19 Get Out the Vote for Jennifer Boysko & Suhas Subramanyam in Sterling
10/19 Canvass for Jennifer Carroll Foy
10/21 Goochland County Board of Supervisors & Board of Education Candidate Forum
