On Politics
Free Lance-Star reporter Chelyen Davis covers Virginia government.
Bolling outraises Cuccinelli, but Cuccinelli has more donors; new fundraising reports
In the race for governor next year, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling outpaced Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli in fundraising dollars in the most recent campaign finance filing, due Monday evening.
But Cuccinelli focused on the number of individuals who donated to his campaign, which outnumbered Bolling’s.
Not all of the reports, including Bolling’s, were available Monday evening on the state Board of Elections website, nor on the Virginia Public Access Project, which tracks campaign finance data.
But according to a Bolling press release from last week, he raised$961,811 in contributions over the past six months. Those donations came from 747 individual contributors, and Bolling ended the first half of the year with about $1.5 million cash on hand.
Cuccinelli, who entered the race later than Bolling, reported in a press release Monday evening that he had raised $534,156 in the fundraising period, and ended with $795,475 cash on hand. Those donations came from 3,770 donors, including 3,191 donations of $100 or less.
Bolling and Cuccinelli will face a party convention for the nomination next year. Cuccinelli cast his fundraising report as a good sign of grassroots support.
“You can’t buy your way to victory in a convention – you need to earn it through grassroots support. This report clearly shows that thousands of Virginians have made key investments in our race,” said Cuccinelli campaign political director Noah Wall in a press release.
Bolling responded by noting how much more money than Cuccinelli he has raised.
“The fact that Ken Cuccinelli raised so little during this period is a further indication that he cannot defeat Terry McAuliffe for Governor of Virginia,” said a statement from the campaign attributed to consultant Boyd Marcus. .
McAuliffe, a Democrat who lost the party’s nomination for governor in 2009, hasn’t formally joined the race, but has said he is interested in running.
Marcus said polls show Bolling ahead of McAuliffe, and that those polls also show McAuliffe ahead of Cuccinelli.
“This is a clear indication that as people get to know Cuccinelli better, they like him less,” Marcus said. “However, as they get to know Bill Bolling better, they like him more.”
The field for lieutenant governor and attorney general in 2013 is also filling up. Here are some of those candidates’ fundraising numbers:
Corey Stewart (Republican for Lt. Gov.): Raised $430,048, including $15,000 in in-kind contributions. Ended with $401,090 cash on hand.
Del. Scott Lingamfelter (Republican for Lt. Gov., only recently entered race): Raised $3,600, ended with $3,600 cash on hand.
Sen. Mark Obenshain (Republican for Attorney General): Raised $210,591, including two in-kind contributions; ended with $198,123 cash on hand.
Del. Rob Bell (Republican for Attorney General): report not yet available online.
John Frey (Republican for Attorney General): Raised $44,393, including about $4,000 in in-kind contributions; ended with $14,921 cash on hand.
State political action committees also had to file fundraising reports on Monday, covering the period between April 1 and June 30.
Gov. Bob McDonnell’s Opportunity Virginia PAC reported raising $609,255 (including in-kind donations) and spent $714,038, ending the period with $186,859 cash on hand.
House Speaker Bill Howell’s PAC, the Dominion Leadership Trust, raised $56,838 in the period and spent $128,867, ending the period with $308,495 cash on hand.
The Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus raised $91,035 and spent $41,654, ending with $202,394 cash on hand.
The Virginia Senate Republican Caucus raised $273,345 and spent $82,197, ending with $224,443 cash on hand.
