Yesterday was the filing deadline for campaign finance disclosure reports for candidates on the ballot in November. The data below covers the period April 1 to June 30 and was taken from the Virginia Public Access Project, better known as VPAP. As of this writing, the information on VPAP is just the raw data from the State Board of Elections filings. Value-added data is to be available Monday afternoon.
Here’s what the records show for local races (note: * indicates incumbent):
Senate
1st
John Miller (D)* – raised $68,858, on hand $111,359
Mickey Chohany (R) – raised $49,068, including $30,000 loan from himself, on hand $48,250
The word on the street was that Chohany would mostly self-fund his race. The loan above was made on 6/28, just prior to the filing deadline. It will be interesting to see if he repays it on the next report or puts more in. This district went 57% for Obama, although Deeds/Wagner/Shannon all lost here.Based on the candidates alone, I’d say this district leans Democratic.
2nd
Mamie Locke (D)* – raised $27,615, on hand $47,026
Thomas Harmon IV (R) – raised $0, on hand $0
Yes, the report filed actually shows zeros for Harmon. This district went 69% for Obama, with Deeds/Wagner/Shannon all winning more than 60% of the vote. A solid Democratic district.
3rd
Tommy Norment (R)* – raised $200,871, on hand $387,125
Mark Frechette (R) – raised $2,734, on hand $1,532
Frechette is identified as a Tea Party candidate running against long-time incumbent Norment. The Republican nominee will be decided in the primary on August 23. No Democrat has filed to run as of this date. In this district, McCain won 62% of the vote and McDonnell/Bolling/Cuccinelli all received nearly 70% of the vote. This is a solid Republican district.
6th
Ralph Northam (D)* – raised $71,044, on hand $213,447
Ben Loyola (R) – raised $16,060 including $400 in loans, on hand $12,553
Loyola was just nominated by convention last Saturday. Obama won this district with 56% of the vote, while McDonnell and Cuccinelli carried it with 54% and 52%, respectively. Bolling and Wagner split the vote here with 50% each. I think this district leans Democratic.
House of Delegates
21st
Ron Villanueva (R)* – raised $47,470 including $5,000 loan, on hand $35,718
Adrianne Bennett (D) – raised $6,000, on hand $6,000
This may be the most interesting race to watch in Hampton Roads, as Bennett has just entered the race. Obama got 50% of the vote here, even though McDonnell/Bolling/Cuccinelli averaged 65%. Redistricting made it slightly more Republican than before but if Bennett mounts a strong challenge, this could be a Democratic pickup. Right now, I’d say it leans Republican.
64th
Bill Barlow (D)* – no report yet
Richard Morris (R) – new candidate, no report required
Joseph Waymack (R) – raised $6,329 including $1,500 loan, on hand $505
The Republican nominee will be chosen in convention on July 23. McCain won this district with 58% of the vote and this is another in which McDonnell/Bolling/Cuccinelli averaged 65%. As the result of redistricting, the district became more Republican than it was, going from 60% McDonnell to 66%. I’d say this district leans Republican.
90th
Algie Howell (D)* – raised $12,170, on hand $22,691
Rick James (D) – raised $11,970, on hand $2,710
No Republicans have emerged in this district, which went 76% for Obama with Deeds/Wagner/Shannon earning 65% or better of the vote. The Democratic nominee will be determined in the August 23rd primary. Obviously a solid Democratic district.
93rd
Robin Abbott (D)* – raised $53,992, on hand $37,398
Mike Watson (R) – raised $30,145 including $10,000 loan, on hand $25,419
This new 93rd district was won by Obama with 56% of the vote. McDonnell/Bolling/Cuccinelli won with 55% or less of the vote. At this point, I’d say the district leans Democratic, but only barely.
As more information becomes available, I will update this post.
With all 140 seats in the General Assembly up for re-election, there are a number of races across the state to watch. I’ll try to find time to write a post about them separately.
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VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 
The 90th might get interesting. I had never heard of Rick James (at least not Norfolk’s Rick James), and hadn’t given his candidacy much of a chance.
However, at Thursday’s Virginia Beach Redistricting public meeting, a couple people were talking about the primary in the 90th. I’ve thus flagged the race.
10 to 1 money cash on hand advantage for Howell and 7 beach precincts where voters are likly to have a higher chance of being unaware of the impact of redistrcting. Couple this with name recognition and I will be surprised if Howell goes below 60%
Anything can happen in a low-turnout race, which is what this one will be. One only needs to look to the Ward 5 race in Norfolk in 2010 to see how money and name recognition can be overcome.
An August (off-date) primary will probably have a voter turnout under 10%. A campaign that can do quality GOTV can win it, and GOTV can be done fairly cheaply.
Besides, it was WHO was talking about the 90th at that meeting. 🙂
The Ward 5 race was largely decided by the issue of the tide. It caught considerable old school media attention and an electorate more in an anti- incombant mood. Two years ago it was similer with Spruill . We saw that go down 70% to 30%. I will bet on the rank and file in a primary any day. See the Portsmouths Sherrifs primary as an example. Thank you for all the excellent comments
I’d disagree that the Ward 5 race was decided on the issue of the Tide. And I don’t think this year’s race in the 90th is similar to the 09 race with Spruill Jr. It could end up being similar – especially if James doesn’t raise any money – but he does appear to be working harder than Jr did.
Randy Wright took a lot of negative press in the newspaper from his involment with the tide. This was over months of time. The pilot never was suportative of Mr.Wright in the best of times. As the cost overruns and supervison issue manifested it fell largely on Mr. Wrights shoulders perception wise. The 90th race this year shows no signs of exciting signifigant public scrutany amoung the voters or the media. Howell won with approx. 57% of the vote aganist Robonson, 60% again in the next primary two years latter. Then approx 70% to 30% against both Spruill and Call. I just do not see any change in the basic mathmatics and inside baseball for this particualr primary. Thank You for your Insight great discussion by all.
While Wright did get some negative press from his HRT involvement and that no doubt contributed to his loss, that was not what defeated him. Hard work by Tommy Smigiel did. Besides, go back four years earlier and a novice candidate with no money almost knocked Wright off.
As for the Pilot not being supportive of Wright – surely you jest. Prior to the HRT debacle, I challenge you to find a single negative article in the newspaper about Wright.
As for Howell’s challengers – I’m very aware of the history. But do not compare general elections to primaries. Jason Call was a Republican challenger in a general election. Given the Democratic leanings of this district, there’s no way a Republican can win, which is why there is no challenger this year. The primaries of 2005 and 2009 just show that an underfunded, inexperienced challenger has little chance against an incumbent. This year may prove to be the same as well, but with a little over 4 weeks to go, we shall see if Rick James can pump up the volume to overcome the lethargy of the electorate. There is still time.
Wright lost for several reasons- he did not listen to his constituents and had stopped listening years ago. I find it laughable re: the comment about the Virginia Pilot not being fair to RW…heck…just go to the VP archieves and look at the puff pieces on Randy Wright including “Randy Wright was determined to rise, and did”…that was used in his campaign literature! The reporter on the local Norfolk beat is still carrying the torch for Wright and all one needs to do is read his remarks in the Compass.
Tommy Smigiel won for several reason- he LISTENED to voters and worked hard- the old fashioned way. Smigiel went door to door in his Ward and listened to people. He didn’t have the vast war chest that Wright had but Smigiel has a love of community and a desire to serve- something that is rare these days. After a year of being in office, Smigiel STILL listens and responds to constituents in a timely manner.
Granted- the Tide was a hot mess but Randy’s arrogance and his contempt towards anyone who did not agree with him was the reason for his downfall.
Tommy’s hard work and ability to energize voters was the reason that he won.
James has worked the district as a police officer for quite some and has a lot of strong ties to the community. He’s also been out knocking doors since March or April. One thing he doesn’t have, as far as I know, is any kind of online presence. I’ve been sitting on an interview with him since like May; no point in putting it up if voters can’t go look at a website for more information. Still, I’d say he’s got better than a 50-50 shot at winning if he can figure out how campaign mechanics and voter-ID works.
And Vivian, there actually was some guy who wanted to run against Algie, or at least was talking about it last year. Gary Byler had me talk him out of it, otherwise we would be in for a very entertaining election this fall.
Still can’t agree on Howell /James match up. Already heavyweights like Tim Kaine have shown up at Howell’s fund raising event. We will see August 23. I agree their were multple reasons for Wrights loss. But the Virgia pilot moves in ways i sometimes fail to understand. They did Randy Wright no favor in their coverage. Incumbancy is often a double edged sword. I believe it will cut in Howells favor signifigantly this time. As a side note. What do any that have heard the Ben Layola radio adds think about them ??
Charles – if you are working for Howell, please disclose that.
As for Kaine showing up – um, that’s the way it works. In fact, if Kaine hadn’t shown up, it would have been a bigger story.
Sadly my time and family situation does not allow me to work for anyone republican or democrat. ( I often vote split ticket) As with any non empirical opinion you or I are free to draw our own conclusions. I have presented the data to you as I view it. For example, I inquired as to the Layola radio commercial which I found to be rather bizare in tone and style. You will find as I post in the future I will not hesitate to challenge others assumptions and am not afraid to critizize either party. I have worked in both parties decades ago and find that many deeply involved in the party structures often fail to see the forest for the trees.
You seemed to be advocating for Howell, which is why I asked. Not that I would have a problem with that, only that we try to disclose that kind of stuff here.
Haven’t heard the Loyola radio ad and I probably won’t, unless someone posts a copy. I’m not near a radio most of the time. What channel is it playing on.
AM 790 and apaently their is some web site set up by a republican group to go to for more info. To be honest when i heard it it reminded me of the old cartoons with Twittee bird, putty cat, and, and gradma. Its just about replacing Norhtham as if here were to be traded in. I found the add to be (for lack of a better word) weird. It struck me as very negative and did not introcuce Layola