This year’s Virginia Senate races are likely to be the most expensive in state history by the time the votes are tallied Tuesday night. A combined $31.6 million had been spent in support of candidates in 26 races by Oct. 26, according to the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project, a campaign finance watchdog. That’s about $5 million shy of the 2007 record of $36.8 million, with spending during the final two weeks yet to be counted.
Both sides are building up a last-minute stash for the last few days, thanks in part to fundraisers with high-profile party officials like Gov. Bob McDonnell and former President Bill Clinton. Between Oct. 27 and Friday, nearly 340 donations greater than $1,000 were funneled to Senate candidates for a whopping $16 million in contributions. With potential control of the state senate on the line, every penny will be exhausted.
“These senate races tend to be decided on a basis of who works the hardest,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a Virginia politics expert at George Mason University. “It’s basically an arms race. You don’t want to bring a knife to a gunfight.”
Democrats hold a 22-18 majority in the upper chamber, but Republicans are challenging 16 incumbents and need to net two seats to gain effective control of the Senate. Lt. Gov. Bill Black, a Republican, would be the tie-breaking vote.
Democrats are defending considerably more turf than previous elections, and the party is saturating TV markets.
“The money is just flooding into a whole range of places that haven’t seen it in the past,” said Karen Hurt, political science professor at Virginia Tech University. “All of the far southwest districts that have tended to have long-term incumbents have been seeing money flood in.”
Campaigns are forced to dole out as much as they can to encourage voters to turn out in off-year elections. When $36.8 million was spent in 2007, just 30 percent of registered voters cast a ballot — or $27 for each of the 1.37 million Virginians that voted.
Democrats and Republicans are spending more in these races in hopes of linking the opposition to unpopular factions of their parties.
“Virginians face a choice — do they want Washington, [President] Obama-style leadership, or do they want Virginia, [Gov. Bob] McDonnell-style leadership?” said Garren Shipley, spokesman for the Virginia GOP.
Democratic Party of Virginia spokesman Brian Coy countered that, “They have selected a group of candidates that could be the most extreme ticket in history. That’s something that they’re going to be held accountable for.”
