Where Youngkin, McAuliffe inspired first-time donors

Donors to this year's record-shattering gubernatorial race include more than 7,500 Virginians who had never donated more than $100 to any state candidate since VPAP began keeping records in 1997. You can drill down to see how many first-time donors are from your community.



Source: Donors to Republican Glenn Youngkin and Democrat Terry McAuliffe between January 2020 and September 2021 who could not be matched with existing donors found in VPAP's database of campaign contributors to state and local candidates dating to 1997.


Methodology/Caveats: Donors who gave $100 or less are not included in this map because candidates are not required to disclose small donors' names and addresses. McAuliffe has reported far more small donors than Youngkin, but there is no way for the public to know many of these small donors are from Virginia or another state. It is possible that some donors listed on this map had given before. VPAP matches incoming donors to existing donors only if there is there is enough information to make a positive ID. Candidates often provide incomplete information in terms of donors full name, address, occupation or employer. Virginia does not require candidates to list the full legal name of individual donors or provide a voter ID or other unique identifier, there is some room for error in these results. It is possible that some people listed on these maps are not "first-time donors," but actually had given in the past to a state candidate. Two examples could be: 1) Someone with a common name (ie., "William Davis" listed as "retired") who has moved to a new address since he or she last gave; and 2) The campaign lists a donor under his or her work mailing address. This can make matching difficult for someone with a common name (ie, "Elizabeth Jones"), whose occupation is listed in a generic way ("consultant") and whose previous donations had been listed under his or her residential address.

Oct. 22, 2021