Two of Northern Virginia’s three congressional challengers lag significantly behind their opponents in fundraising, a gap political analysts say bodes well for well-funded, well-established incumbents.
Jim Moran, a Democrat who represents the 8th District, is facing Republican challenger Thomas O’Donoghue. Republican Tom Davis, who represents the 11th District, is facing Democrat Andrew Hurst.
Both challengers speak positively about their upcoming fundraising efforts, but are clearly facing uphill battles against opponents who have been able to raise many times what they have.
“Moran and Davis are entrenched,” said George Mason University professor Toni Travis. “Iwould say they are relatively safe seats.”
Moran had brought in $1,053,547 as of the end of June, the most recent data available, according to Federal Election Commission data compiled on Opensecrets.org, while O’Donoghue was listed as raising only $12,084.
O’Donoghue, however, said he raised thousands more since then, bringing that figure to about $50,000.
Davis has raised $2,035,034 over Hurst’s $175,479, though Hurst said he recently has added about $125,000 to that amount and plans to have $500,000 by the end of September.
By contrast, Democrat Judith Feder, who is taking on 10th District Republican Frank Wolf, has a war chest far more comparable to her opponent’s. Wolf still outpaced her by nearly $300,000 in total funds raised.
“It’s difficult to see these races being competitive,” said University of Virginia professor and political guru Larry Sabato. “They’re not on anybody’s target list.”
Some outlying suburban communities of D.C. that are traditionally conservative are trending leftward, but Davis has so far maintained a solid hold on the 11th District, which encompasses parts of Fairfax and Prince William counties.
The 8th District contains Arlington County and the City of Alexandria, both traditionally liberal localities. O’Donoghue said he’s fighting inertia in a district where the “R” next to his name causes some people to “just stop receiving the transmission.”
“It takes money to overcome that, to say, ‘Look, we’ve got a message, it’s something that should resonate with a fair number of people in this district,’ ” he said.
