Candidate financial reports are streaming in. Over at NLS and Vivian Paige, they've got the details. Highlights from the State Senate races:*John Miller has 6 times the cash-on-hand as his opponent, Tricia Stall in the 1st Senate district.
*Ralph Northam has $140,000 more than Nick Rerras in the 6th Senate district.
*George Barker outraised Jay O'Brien by more than $30,000 in July and August. Barker's nearly even with O'Brien in cash on hand in the 39th Senate district.
*Albert Pollard is hanging in there with Richard Stuart in the 28th Senate district.
*Chap Petersen outraised Jeannemarie Devolites Davis in July and August in the 34th Senate district.
*Steve Heretick outraised Fred Quayle in July and August in the 13th Senate district. Heretick is closing the gap on Quayle in terms of cash on hand.
*Unfortunately, it looks like Ken "Right Ron?" Cuccinelli blew Janet Oleszek away in the July and August money race in the 37th Senate district. As NLS notes, "This means the statewide money here will only level the playing field rather than fund a cash advantage for Janet." Bummer.
Based on these numbers, I'd say that John Miller, Chap Petersen, Ralph Northam, Al Pollard, George Barker and Steve Heretick all have a great chance of winning in November. And I still think Janet Oleszek has a shot, but she's going to need major financial resources from the party, Tim Kaine, etc. to compete. All told, I'd say that Democrats have a very good chance of 4 or 5 Senate seat pickups, maybe more if things break our way. You can donate right here, and I strongly urge you to do so. The future of Virginia is hanging in the balance. Thanks.
P.S. RK's ActBlue page has taken in $22,741.98 so far this year. Let's shoot for $30,000!
[UPDATE: I'm hearing that Governor Kaine, Governor Warner, and the Democratic Senate caucus are pleding to do whatever it takes to help Janet Oleszek defeat Ken Cuccinelli. Go Janet!]
Bill Day ($136,959) is finally catching up to Lingamfelter ($31,342) in the 31st HoD district, according to VPAP's copies of the latest filings (9/17). That is amazing in a seat that most people considered non-competitive only a short while ago!
Karen Schultz is not caught up, but is certainly running much closer to Vogel than conventional wisdom would have guessed (27th Senate seat).
Bruce Roemmelt's race is the nearest and dearest to me, both because it is my own district, and because Marshall is the hate-monger who sponsored the hate amendment last year... sadly Bruce is not raising huge piles of cash, and I don't know why. One would think that with all the work Bruce does to help Democrats win all over the state they'd help him defeat Marshall at the very least. We at least have lots of volunteers working the campaign, but I wish we had a George Soros contributer to get the news out on TV. Bruce is an awesome veteran/first responder/educator, and he'll make a fantastic delegate.
I am very excited about Oleszek, Schultz, Peterson, Roemmelt, Rishell, and now Bill Day winning their races... but I am an optimist.