In targeted Virginia House races, Democrats raised an average of double their Republican counterparts

Elections for all 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates are taking place on November 2, 2021. Democrats hold 55 seats and Republicans hold 45 seats. This is the first election cycle since 1999 with Democrats defending a majority in the chamber.

Democratic target districts

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee announced a list of 22 target districts this election cycle. Those candidates combined raised a total of $10.5 million. The table below shows the Democratic candidate in each target district along with the 2019 margin of victory in that district. 

District	Democratic Candidate	Funds raised	2019 margin of victory
District 10	Wendy Gooditis	$713,788.18	D+4.7
District 12	Chris Hurst	$666,962.18	D+7.2
District 13	Danica Roem	$428,505.70	D+12
District 21	Kelly Convirs-Fowler	$293,795.62	D+9.2
District 28	Joshua Cole	$617,479.37	D+4
District 31	Elizabeth Guzman	$918,627.01	D+5.4
District 40	Dan Helmer	$751,851.02	D+4.8
District 50	Lee Carter	$212,254.62	D+6.8
District 51	Hala Ayala	$490,068.41	D+9.3
District 63	Lashrecse Aird	$545,017.13	D+10.7
District 66	Katie Sponsler	$268,540.56	R+4.7
District 68	Dawn Adams	$393,149.30	D+9.3
District 72	Schuyler VanValkenburg	$672,504.92	D+6.7
District 73	Rodney Willett	$643,732.59	D+4.5
District 75	Roz Tyler	$418,506.79	D+1.1
District 81	Jeffrey Feld	$58,182.81	R+4.4
District 83	Nancy Guy	$663,716.72	D+0.2
District 84	Kimberly Melnyk	$227,172.73	R+2.5
District 85	Alex Askew	$641,039.39	D+3.4
District 91	Martha Mugler	$377,764.82	D+9.7
District 93	Michael P. Mullin	$200,880.46	D+11.5
District 100	Finale Norton	$281,046.64	R+3.9

Republican target districts

The Republican State Leadership Committee announced a list of 13 target districts this election cycle. Those candidates combined raised a total of $3.1 million. The table below shows the Republican candidate in each target district along with the 2019 margin of victory in that district. 

District	Republican Candidate	Funds raised	2019 margin of victory
District 10	Nick Clemente	$713,326.86	D+4.7
District 12	Jason Ballard	$268,767.13	D+7.2
District 21	Tanya Gould	$121,031.40	D+9.2
District 28	Tara Durant	$238,446.24	D+4
District 31	Ben Baldwin	$111,337.74	D+5.4
District 40	Harold Pyon	$348,732.88	D+4.8
District 68	Mark Earley Jr.	$191,649.49	D+9.3
District 72	Christopher Holmes	$137,482.63	D+6.7
District 73	Mary Margaret Kastelberg	$284,426.15	D+4.5
District 75	H. Otto Wachsmann Jr.	$214,222.58	D+1.1
District 83	Tim Anderson	$249,838.37	D+0.2
District 85	Karen Greenhalgh	$167,802.67	D+3.4
District 91	Aijalon Cordoza	$39,729.26	D+9.7

On average, Democratic candidates outraised Republicans in targeted districts

In the districts that national groups have identified as critical elections for their respective parties, Democratic candidates raised twice as much on average as their Republican counterparts. Democratic candidates raised an average of $477,272 in each race targeted by the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. Republicans raised an average of $238,461 per district targeted by the Republican State Leadership Committee. 

The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active Virginia candidate political action committees (candidate PACs) submitted to the Virginia Department of Elections. It includes fundraising activity between Jan. 1, 2020, and Aug. 31, 2021. Candidate PACs represent individuals who have run for state or local office at any point, including past and present officeholders. This article does not include non-candidate PACs.

This article was published in partnership with Transparency USA. Click here to learn more about that partnership.

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