ICYMI: Candidates for down-ticket 2013 contests rake in cash

July 17, 2012

By Olympia Meola

RICHMOND, Va. –The contests aren’t until next year, but candidates seeking their party’s nod for down ticket spots for lieutenant governor and attorney general are beginning to rake in cash.

In the lieutenant governor’s race, Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, reported raising $430,048 between January and June 30, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonpartisan tracker of money in state politics.

Stewart ended the period with $401,090 on hand – with $250,000 of that coming from his Stewart for Chairman committee.

A fellow Prince William Republican, Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter, is also seeking the party’s nomination for lieutenant governor. He reported having $3,600 on hand as of June 30 for his Lingamfelter for lieutenant governor committee.
Sen. Stephen Martin, R-Chesterfield, has also said he intends to run for the nomination. His lieutenant governor committee is new and has not yet filed a campaign finance report, according to VPAP. His Senate committee had $62,038 on hand as of June 30.

Martin and Lingamfelter entered the race days after the Republican Party of Virginia’s State Central Committee voted to switch the nominating process for the 2013 statewide slate to a convention from a primary.
On the Democratic side, Aneesh Chopra, the nation’s first chief technology officer and a Virginia secretary of technology under Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, is seeking his party’s nomination. He raised $511,256 between April 1 and June 30 and had $466,717 on hand as of June 30 in his exploratory committee, Innovate Virginia.

Not surprisingly, many of his donors are from the IT world, based in Northern Virginia and beyond. Among the donation, $100,000 came from Chamath Palihapitiya, a Palto Alto, California-based venture capitalist who was once an executive at Facebook, according to a New York Times profile.

As for the attorney general’s contest, Del. Robert B. Bell, R-Albemarle, raised $147,638 from January through June 30 and ended with $692,837 on hand. He’s seeking the GOP nomination, as is John Frey a Fairfax County Court Clerk.
Frey raised $44,393 and ended the period with $14,921 on hand, while Sen. Mark D. Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, raised $210,591 and ended with $198,123 on hand.

As for Gov. Bob McDonnell, who cannot seek a second term as governor, his political action committee brought in $609,255 between April 1 and June 30 and spent $714,038, leaving that account with $186,859 on hand.