The Virginian-Pilot
©
RICHMOND
Bob McDonnell not only leads Creigh Deeds in many of the polls tracking the governor's race, he's also on top in the latest tally of campaign cash collections, according to records filed with the state Thursday.
The Republican raised $3.8 million in September, while his Democratic rival collected $3.5 million.
In addition to that advantage, McDonnell's $4.5 million in the bank is greater than the $2.8 million Deeds reported at the end of the period.
Likewise, the two Republicans running statewide alongside McDonnell had larger fundraising hauls than their Democratic opponents.
Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling narrowly out-raised Democrat Jody Wagner: he brought in $476,336, compared to her $465,302.
The $1.2 million the Republican incumbent had in his war chest also exceeded the $879,708 reported by Wagner, a former state finance secretary from Virginia Beach.
In the attorney general race, Republican Ken Cuccinelli's intake of $672,814 is more than the $532,575 Democrat Steve Shannon raised.
Shannon's $1.4 million in cash could give him a boost in the final few weeks of the campaign, however; Cuccinelli reported $935,241 in the bank at the end of last month.
Both men are members of the General Assembly representing Fairfax County districts - Cuccinelli serves in the state Senate, Shannon in the House of Delegates.
Several candidates are spending at a rapid clip, too.
Some of that can be traced to advertising - all six candidates are now up on the air with TV ads.
Aside from a peek into who's giving what to whom and which interest groups are backing particular candidates, the Oct. 15 campaign finance disclosure reports illustrate that even big-time politics is not immune to a recession.
The down economy seems to be having an effect on the fundraising efforts.
For example, while Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and former attorney general Jerry Kilgore raised less than their current counterparts during this stretch of the 2005 gubernatorial race, both men had more than $5 million in the bank at the end of September.
Neither current gubernatorial candidate has that much money.
Still, there are some groups doling out sizable donations.
Among Deeds' five largest cash gifts, $1 million came from Democratic Party groups and $400,000 from a national labor union. McDonnell's top two gifts, totaling $500,000, came from GOP interests.
Like the statewide candidates, individuals running for the House of Delegates and local offices were on deadline to file campaign finance reports Thursday.
There is one more filing due - on Oct. 26 - before the election Nov. 3.
Julian Walker, (804) 697-15otonline.com
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mc d supporters
DON'T LET UP !! This is McD's election to lose if we don't keep up supporting our man! Get out OUR votes and dollars!!
Even the democRATS are staying away from Deeds
Obama, etc., aren't even coming here to campaign for him because they know it is a lost cause already......And Kaine is such a liability that they jumped back to Mark Warner for ads for Deeds.....this whole country, not just Virginia, has already gone to 'heck' in a handbasket.....something needs to be done quick or we will all be speaking Chinese while 'spreading the wealth' to those who don't work
Pray tell, why are you voting....
... for Bob?
Because he is NOT Deeds.
Because he is NOT Deeds.
Clever
Why are you voting for Bob?
Chris33
Not everyone who believes marriage should be between a man and a woman, that fornicating leads to complications, or who writes a thesis to a christian university is a religious right extremist. Is everyone who believes in God or who disagrees with homosexuality an extremist to you? What is normal religious right and not extreme religious right to you? I think your comment will make some on the fence vote for McDonnell. McCain attending McDonnell's rally only got one column of about 4 inches on page 4. I bet if Pelosi, Reid, Biden, or Clinton were to attend Deeds' rally, The Pilot would make it fit on the front page.
I suspect that people arrive at the 'extreme' label due to ....
... Bob's inclination to use the gubmint to "punish & deter" TheGays. And he associates TheGays, by way of the gubmint "punish" policy, to two groups of societal miscreants... "pornographers & drug abusers".
Plus, working women and 'feminazis' (TM Rush - to borrow a phrase from the titular head of the GOP) are detrimental to society.
That birth control for unmarried people is "illogical".
And that his unwashed constituency can just pipe down, cuz regardless of what they want, they are getting what the ideologue wants:
"It is also becoming clear in modern culture that the voting American mainstream is not willing to accept a true pro-family ideologue...Leadership, however, does not require giving voters what they want, for whimsical & capricious govt would result. Republican legislators must exercise independent professional judgment as statesmen..."
Evil Empire
Bob McDonnell is part of the Pat Robertson evil empire. Why would any sane person vote for someone who is connected to such a criminal?
No party lines
I have never voted along party lines. I will vote for Mc-D just to keep Obama from getting any further support. Deeds will support everything Obama ask for because he is a Democrat. I will have to bite my tongue when I pull the leaver because Mc-D has never apologized for associating with Pat Robertson.
That's because I doubt he is
That's because I doubt he is sorry for his association with Robertson, but who cares, why should he be? I certainly don't agree with Roberson's theology (I am Catholic as is McD), but did I miss something? Is he a bad man that McD should run away from? Is there any evidence that he has any control over McD? I am much more concerned about ties to big party interests and special interests that will actually cost taxpayers money than Pat Robertson. Unfortunately, I believe both candidates will be slaves to their party and pork loaded spending. I believe McD's interests are less damaging considering the $13 trillion in debt and climbing we face at the federal level. In this climate, I don't see the Virginia governor having time to go after mundane social issues. We need someone that will cut spending and the answer is neither.