Incumbent Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., raked in almost $350,000 in the first quarter of 2011, outpacing nearly all of his Old Dominion colleagues in the House as he positions himself for the 2012 campaign. Connolly, who eked out a win in 2010 over Republican Keith Fimian by less than 1,000 votes, raised $345,000 and finished the quarter with $300,000 in cash on hand.
“We feel really good about the way the quarter went,” said Connolly Chief of Staff James Walkinshaw. “I’d say Congressman Connolly takes every election seriously. He’s never lost one, and certainly doesn’t plan to change that in 2012.”
| Perpetual campaign? First-quarter fundraising numbers | ||||
| Campaign committee | Money raised | Cash on Hand | ||
| Gerry Connolly (D-11th) | $344,795.46 | $303,398.95 | ||
| Jim Moran (D-8th) | $272,184.34 | 524,433.31 | ||
| Frank Wolf (R-10th) | $68,142.06 | $136,789.55 | ||
| Eric Cantor (R-7th) | $1,357,904.66 | $1,524,911.36 | ||
| Scott Rigell (R-2nd) | $297,393.81 | $254,225.43 | ||
| Robert Hurt (R-5th) | $214,174.38 | $175,652.86 | ||
| Morgan Griffith (R-9th) | $99,273.63 | $102,820.82 | ||
| Rob Wittman (R-1st) | $74,410 | $389,321.73 | ||
| Randy Forbes (R-4th) | $69,006.33 | $372,801.23 | ||
| Bobby Scott (D-3rd) | $2,300 | $28,417.80 | ||
| Bob Goodlatte (R-6th) | $0 | $795,214.88 | ||
| Source: Federal Election Commission | ||||
Connolly spent more than $2.4 million during the 2010 election cycle to stave off a furious challenge from Fimian, who shelled out more than $2.7 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Connolly’s first-quarter total outpaced the cash raised by the campaign committees of nine other Virginia congressmen. Only House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., raised more, taking in a whopping $1.3 million and ending the quarter with $1.5 million on hand.
That doesn’t even include money in Cantor’s other fundraising committees, such as the Cantor Victory Fund, which raised nearly $500,000 in March alone. Cantor’s Every Republican is Crucial PAC (ERICPAC) took in more than $400,000 in March.
Meanwhile, Connolly’s Northern Virginia colleagues, Democratic Rep. Jim Moran and Republican Rep. Frank Wolf, brought in about $275,000 and $70,000, respectively, in the first three months of the year.
Both Moran and Wolf won their 2010 races handily with over 60 percent of the vote in their respective races.
Dan Scandling, Wolf’s chief of staff, downplayed the amount, saying that the congressman doesn’t make it a practice to raise money in non-campaign years.
“He raises money when he needs it,” Scandling said.
Examiner Staff Writer Leah Fabel contributed to this report.
