This article was republished with permission from WTOP’s news partner InsideNoVa.com. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.
This article was written by WTOP’s news partner, InsideNoVa.com, and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.
Democrats and Republicans split the lead in recent fundraising totals in the two of the region’s congressional districts, but the Democratic incumbents have significantly more cash on hand heading into the fall midterm election.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger outraised her challenger in the 7th District, while Republican Hung Cao outpaced incumbent Rep. Jennifer Wexton in the 10th.
The latest campaign finance report covers contributions from June 2 to June 30.
After redistricting, Prince William County’s representation was tied to the 7th and 10th districts.
The 10th District spans Loudoun, Fauquier and Rappahannock counties, western Prince William County, Manassas and Manassas Park cities and a small portion of Fairfax County. Wexton, a Democrat, was first elected to the seat in 2018 and is seeking her third term.
Redistricting moved the 7th District from a swath of central Virginia west of Richmond to Northern Virginia. It now covers eastern Prince William, the city of Fredericksburg and all of King George, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Caroline, Culpeper, Orange, Greene and Madison counties plus about 35 voters in Albemarle County.
Spanberger, who lives in Henrico County just outside Richmond, is seeking her third term representing the 7th. Redistricting put her home in the 1st District, represented by Republican Rob Wittman. However, congressional representatives are not required to live in their district.
Spanberger is being challenged by Prince William County Supervisor Yesli Vega, who won the GOP primary in June.
10th District
Cao led June fundraising in the 10th District with $525,480. He also received the most small-dollar contributions of the four candidates, totaling $183,741.
Still, Politico rates the 10th District as “likely Democratic.”
Of his total, Cao received $252,000 from PACs.
Raptor PAC, associated with U.S. Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, provided $1,000. Cao also got $2,000 from House Majority Whip Steve Scalise.
Cao reported $294,299 from WinRed.
“These results are a strong testament to Cao’s message of unity resonating with Virginians,” Cao’s campaign posted on Twitter. “[The district] doesn’t want the rubber-stamp candidate for Joe Biden’s failed policies.”
The GOP nominee spent $392,356 in June and had $354,182 remaining.
Although Wexton didn’t raise as much as Cao in June, she has substantially more money remaining.
Wexton reported $379,703 in contributions, of which $146,175 came from PACs.
Her biggest contribution was $37,000 from the joint fundraising Virginia House Victory PAC. She also received $30,920 from Forward Virginia.
Wexton had several donations from big businesses.
She received $5,000 each from The Home Depot, United Airlines and Bechtel Group, a construction company. Wexton reported $3,000 each from Amazon Inc. and Planned Parenthood. She received $2,500 from Comcast, $2,000 each from Wells Fargo and AFLAC and $1,000 from Walmart.
Wexton’s colleagues also chipped into her campaign, with $2,000 from House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, $1,000 from Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., and $500 from Rep. Ami Bera, D-Calif.
Big-time Democratic donor Sonjia Smith of the Charlottesville area contributed $5,800 in June.
Prince William County Board Chair Ann Wheeler donated $500, and Neabsco Supervisor Victor Angry gave $250.
Wexton spent $108,622 in June and had about $3.6 million remaining in her campaign war chest.
“I’m grateful for the strong show of support from so many Virginians this quarter, which underscores just how fired up people are to defend this seat and continue the historic progress we’ve made in Congress,” Wexton said in a news release. “Virginia-10 voters know they can count on me to fight to improve the lives of families in every community. I look forward to continuing our campaign full-steam ahead and talking to every voter about what’s at stake in this election.”
7th District
In June, Spanberger outraised Vega, who was competing in a six-way primary.
The race could potentially decide control of the House of Representatives in what is expected to be a tight mid-term election this fall.
Spanberger won both her terms in the 7th District by less than 2 percentage points, but the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics rated the 7th District race as leaning Democratic.
The Cook Political Report, however, rated the race as a toss-up.
Spanberger reported $654,766 raised in June. Of her fundraising totals, her small donations of less than $200 totaled $112,910.
Among local contributors, Supervisor Margaret Franklin, D-Woodbridge, gave her $1,000.
Spanberger received $105,310 from political action committees in June. Her biggest contribution was $49,810 from Elect Democratic Women 2022.
Spanberger also received $37,000 from the Virginia House Victory PAC, a joint fundraising effort by Spanberger, Wexton and Rep. Elaine Luria, D-2nd.
She received $34,456 from Forward Virginia.
“I am out and about across these 11 localities, just as I have been out and about my current 10 counties,” Spanberger said at a recent campaign event. “And it’s really an issue of understanding what matters on the ground.”
Spanberger spent $172,543 and reported about $4.9 million remaining in her campaign coffers at the end of June.
Vega reported $233,618 raised in June. Her small-dollar donations totaled $51,004.
A substantial sum of her contributions, $91,874, were from WinRed, a Republican fundraising platform. It is the GOP’s counter to the Democrats’ ActBlue.
Vega’s second-largest set of contributions came from the House Freedom Fund, the fundraising arm of the conservative Freedom Caucus, which donated $15,776.
Vega received $2,000 each from sitting U.S. Reps. Bob Good, R-5th District (Va.); Barry Moore, R-Ala.; Andrew Clyde, R-Ga.; and Andy Harris, R-Md. She also reported $1,000 from We The People Leadership PAC, which is affiliated with Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.
Vega’s Republican colleagues on the Board of Supervisors also chipped in, with Gainesville Supervisor Pete Candland providing $3,000 and Brentsville Supervisor Jeanine Lawson contributing $2,900.
In total, Vega reported $48,000 from PACs.
She spent $107,548 in June and had $246,070 remaining at the end of the month.
In a fundraising email, the Vega campaign noted Spanberger was outraising the Republican and said, “Now is the time to start working overtime and help Yesli crush her radical opponent.”
