Repost from The Virginia Star.
Incumbents are leading in fundraising in Virginia’s competitive congressional races, according to new second-quarter reports; Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) has about $4.9 million cash on hand, Representative Elaine Luria (D-VA-02) has about $4.3 million cash on hand, and Representative Jennifer Wexton has about $3.6 million on hand. Luria’s Republican challenger State Senator Jen Kiggans (R-Virginia Beach) has $413,279 cash on hand; Wexton’s challenger Hung Cao has $354,183 on hand, and Spanberger challenger Yesli Vega has $246,070, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
“Today, Congresswoman Elaine Luria announced her biggest fundraising quarter to date, raising more than $1.85 million in the second quarter of 2022 and far exceeding previous campaign records,” Luria’s campaign said in a press release touting small-dollar donations.
“Our campaign was carried to victory with grassroots support in 2018, and we will continue to be fueled by grassroots supporters,” Luria said in the release obtained by Blue Virginia.
Despite the big financial lead, VA-02 is still considered competitive and perhaps Republicans’ easiest flip in Virginia. For example, in a July 15 update, Inside Elections rates VA-02 a toss-up and VA-07 is tilt Democratic.
Former Prince William County GOP Committee vice chairman Willie Deutsch told The Virginia Star that a lot of national money will come in to the races by Labor Day.
“All of them [Spanberger, Luria, and Wexton] are incumbents, and Republicans had nomination contests where they spent money. The shock would be if it was opposite,” Deutsch said.
In second quarter reports, Spanberger raised $1.4 million and Wexton raised $863,675. Cao raised $668,440, Kiggans raised $470,225, and Vega raised $385,399.