2016 fundraising numbers are in for our 2017 candidates for statewide office, and the numbers bring no huge surprises.
A summary of the numbers is below, after a quick analysis of the state of play.
Governor
Ed Gillespie leads by a long shot among the Republican pack, outpacing everyone by a mile and ending the year with nearly 5 times the cash on hand as his nearest rival, Corey Stewart. Stewart is raising cash at a healthy clip, but got a big boost from $378,000 in transfers from his candidate committee for re-election as Chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors. Sen. Frank Wagner (R-Virginia Beach) benefited from the transfer of $205,000 from his Virginia Senate account.
While both Stewart and posted healthy numbers, they’re perhaps not enough to compete vigorously with Gillespie using a conventional campaign strategy (the television ad war). For his part, Stewart is doubtless relying on a Trumpian strategy of earning free media coverage throughout the primary as a means of doing more with less. Look for lots of headline grabbing in the months to come.
Denver Riggleman is a latecomer to the race, so his modest totals may not yet be indicative of his ability to compete going forward, but he’s definitely got a lot of ground to make up.
Attorney General
In the Attorney General race, as expected, Richmond attorney John Adams is touting major numbers for a down ticket race. He’s pulled in a whopping total of $701,804 since he started raising money early last year, far outstripping the fundraising of previous Attorney General nominees at this point in the cycle, though he ended the year with just $277,358 cash on hand…clearly Collette and Shores are being paid too much. (Just kidding, guys).
It is unclear how Virginia Beach attorney Chuck Smith (a good candidate with a great personal story, by the way) expects to compete at all with his numbers, particularly when more than half of his modest funds come from loans he made to his campaign. Adams is the prohibitive favorite here, which should be encouraging if for no other reason than his apparent ability to make a net financial contribution to the GOP ticket.
Lieutenant Governor
As usual, the real interesting story comes from the Lieutenant Governor’s race. Sen. Jill Vogel (R-Fauquier), as expected, posted numbers giving her a sizable lead over her rivals. She got a very long head start, which she’s diligently built over the last six months. Her totals close to $1 million are absolutely astounding for a Lieutenant Governor race, but so is the total garnered by Sen. Bryce Reeves (R-Spotsylvania), whose campaign account together with his Senate account has cash on hand of about $530,000—almost parity with Vogel’s cash on hand of $587,000.
Clearly, Reeves will be keen to win using funds from his LG account first, rather than drain his Senate account. He’s not on the Senate ballot again for another two years, but it takes a lot of time for a Senator to build up that kind of cash. If you assume he’s only using funds raised specifically for his LG race, then Vogel has roughly double the cash on hand that he does. But as the race heats up, look for Reeves to dip into the reserve funds, at least a little bit, to keep up with Vogel’s record numbers.
Del. Glenn Davis (R-Virginia Beach) has been left pretty far behind here. He has loaned his campaign $119,950, and between both his House account and his LG account he has a total of only about $38,000 cash on hand.
Detailed numbers can be found on VPAP. We’ve provided a practical summary below.
Please note, the numbers reported below capture existing cash on hand at the beginning of the reporting period, plus any funds raised during the reporting period, minus what was spent. Importantly, they also include funds in state accounts controlled by the candidates, as under Virginia law these are able to be transferred to any other state race. In order to avoid double counting, the numbers below are net of transfers between a candidate’s committees (i.e., the “Raised in Last Period” column doesn’t include funds received from another of the candidate’s own accounts).
Governor | Beginning | Raised In Last Period* | Ending |
---|---|---|---|
Ed Gillespie | $0 | $771,109 | $1,860,392 |
GrowVirginia** | $1,208,023 | $336,040 | $99,013 |
TOTAL: | $1,107,149 | $1,959,405 | |
Corey Stewart | $0 | $127,405 | $402,000 |
Supervisor Account | $313,921 | $97,025 | $6,419 |
TOTAL: | $224,430 | $408,419 | |
Frank Wagner | $0 | $245,979 | $372,043 |
Senate Account | $47,402 | Unknown | Unknown |
TOTAL: | $245,979 | $372,043 | |
Denver Riggleman | $0 | $19,427 | $23,885 |
REFPAC** | $389 | $47,400 | $2,772 |
TOTAL: | $66,827 | $26,657 | |
Lieutenant Governor | Beginning | Raised in Last Period* | Ending |
Jill Vogel | $505,158 | $430,953 | $586,104 |
Senate Account | $20,723 | $27,828 | $1,000 |
TOTAL: | $458,781 | $587,104 | |
Bryce Reeves | $0 | $42,131 | $223,862 |
Revitalize Virginia** | $275,180 | $77,561 | $39,107 |
Senate Account | $269,818 | $82,642 | $267,707 |
TOTAL: | $169,334 | $530,676 | |
Glenn Davis | $21,677 | $76,833 | $32,271 |
House Account | $3,752 | $16,010 | $6,208 |
TOTAL: | $92,843 | $38,479 | |
Attorney General | Beginning | Raised in Last Period | Ending |
John Adams | $260,760 | $269,944 | $277,358 |
TOTAL: | $269,944 | $277,358 | |
Chuck Smith | $1,374 | $2,797 | $3,369 |
TOTAL: | $2,797 | $3,369 | |
* Totals raised are net of transfers from associated committees. Totals raised for Glenn Davis are net of $119,950 in personal loans from him to his campaign. Totals raised for Chuck Smith are net of his loans to his campaign of $3,500.
** PAC reporting periods are 10/1-12/31, while candidate committees are 7/1-12/31
19 comments
To be fair – check out details on Vogel’s numbers and note the many thousands of dollars that have come from her own account, or from her father. Makes it look like huge numbers, but further digging shows that the monetary support from constituents is considerably lower than a simple glance would portray. Easy to look good when you can find yourself.
*fund* yourself.
Yep, she and her family have donated 188k. Plus she is spending it quick. Reeves actually has more cash on hand.
Reeves has more cash on hand? Are we reading the same article? Because Vogel clearly has more.
Reeves fundraising pace gets slower every report. No wonder he’s resorting to cheap tricks like the email garbage.
Lee may be referencing her balance, were she to subtract the $ she and her family gave her campaign. Regarding “cheap tricks,” the Reeves team asks the same about her. One is led to wonder why she won’t agree to a 3rd party investigation if she’s so innocent! The public is waiting for answers…
A Holtzman dollar spends the same as your money right?
Why should she agree? If Reeves had something he would be in court. Not putting up facebook ads demanding “Jills” phone.
Bryce Reeves is losing. And he’s losing ugly.
“Martha’s” phone.
Look at cash on hand. Look at her burn rate.
587k on hand for Vogel vs 530k for Reeves.
She raised more than twice what he did this period. She can spend more.
Ok, 57k more after kicking in 188k from her family. Reeves is just fine.
Reeves is a pathetic loser who didn’t have any problem with Bill Holtzman’s money in 2015.
He took $25,000 of it.
And again, look at the amount raised. Vogel is laupping him.
And all this to distract from her indisputable record – supporting McAwful’s liberal judge appointment?? Backing down on good Life bills? Voting with the Dems on LGBTQ rights? And an at-best questionable gun record? Really?? This is the Republican we want???
Sound like you got the attack emails Bryce sent.
Actually, I just investigated her record. I don’t take anyone’s word for granted in these circles.
Again, Roger, you dodged the questions…No answer for these concerns?
Nobody is concerned. It’s a primary, not a convention. This race is over.
You see what happens to people that run against her.
It won’t matter, the email scandal will take her out.
This is a primary. 700,000 people are going to vote.
The activist echo chamber is irrelevant. The email “scandal” is an inconsequential distraction.
This campaign is over.