Associated Press 10/20/2009
House Candidates Raise $22 Million

By Bob Lewis - Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. -  Through September, House of Delegates candidates had raised about $22.5 million as Republicans defend their six-seat working majority and Democrats try to wrest it from them, campaign finance reports show.

The GOP accounts for nearly $11.2 million of the total to date to about $10.8 million for the Democrats.

The fundraising record for House races, just short of $33 million, was set two years ago, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonprofit and nonpartisan tracker of money in Virginia politics. In the comparable elections of 2005 that accompanied races for governor and two other statewide offices, candidates took in and spent about $27.8 million.

In Virginia, House elections come every two years. Democrats, who in 2002 controlled just 34 of the House's 100 seats, have eaten into the GOP's advantage in every election since. Republicans now hold 55 seats counting two conservative independents who caucus with them, and Democrats held 45 seats during the 2009 General Assembly.

There are 69 contested races on Nov. 3--11 open seats and 58 races in which incumbents face challengers. Twenty-nine Democratic incumbents face opponents as do 28 Republican incumbents plus independent Lacey Putney of Bedford, chairman of the budget-writing Appropriations Committee.

State senators serve four-year terms and won't face re-election until 2011. But control of the House is important in determining whether either party will dominate the constitutionally required reapportionment of legislative and congressional district lines to reflect growth in the state's population.

In September, Democrats outraised and outspent Republicans. Finance reports candidates filed last week with the State Board of Elections showed Democrats received nearly $2.7 million and spent more than $2.9 million. The GOP raised slightly more than $2 million and spent a little more than $2.3 million over the same month.

Some House races could eclipse $1 million in by the time it's all done.

_In Fairfax County's 42nd District, the total by Oct. 1 had passed $956,000. Targeted Republican incumbent David Albo, chairman of the Courts of Justice Committee, had received more than $482,000 to Democratic challenger Greg Werkheiser's $474,000.

_In the 34th District, also based in Fairfax County, fundraising had topped $902,000 with targeted Democratic freshman Del. Margi Vanderhye taking in nearly $446,000 to Republican Barbara Comstock's $457,000.

_In Newport News' 93rd District, Democrats have helped stake challenger Robin Abbott to more than $345,000 in her bid to pick off Del. Phillip Hamilton, who has raised $482,000. The senior Appropriations Committee Republican, Hamilton is seeking a 12th term as federal authorities and a legislative ethics panel investigate allegations that he arranged a $40,000-a-year job for himself at Old Dominion University as he steered state funding to the Norfolk school.