“The GOP simply cannot be outspent again.” – Chris Saxman [1]
The first general election “money report” is out … and the GOP appears well on its way to being outspent again (WaPo [2]).
Former governor Terry McAuliffe (D) reported raising more than twice as much money during June as Republican Glenn Youngkin in a Virginia gubernatorial race that could set state records for campaign spending.
McAuliffe’s campaign said he raised just over $7.5 million for the filing period of May 28 through June 30, compared with $3.6 million reported by Youngkin’s campaign for the same period.
The cash-on-hand difference is even wider.
The haul left McAuliffe with more than $9 million in cash on hand, according to filings with the Virginia Department of Elections. He had started the reporting period with just under $3.3 million in cash and reported spending almost $1.8 million during June.
…
Youngkin entered the reporting period with almost $4.4 million in cash on hand, and after spending $5.3 million during the month, now has a balance of just over $2.6 million, according to VPAP.
The would give T-Mac a COH advantage well north of $6 million.
So is Youngkin’s performance subpar, or is McAuliffe’s exceptional? CNU’s Christopher Kidd hinted to the WaPo that it’s the latter.
In most years, Youngkin’s June fundraising total “would have been a good month,” said Quentin Kidd, a political scientist at Christopher Newport University. “But it’s not a good month when you’re running against a guy who has almost doubled it.”
Kidd pointed out that Youngkin spent more than he raised during June. “He’s got to do better than this if he doesn’t want to either pile a bunch of his own money into the race or be outspent massively in the latter summer and early fall,” he said.
It should be noted that LG candidate Hala Ayala also doubled her GOP opponent’s fundraising haul. Attorney General Mark Herring was the only statewide Democratic candidate outraised by his Republican counterpart – a clear sign that the AG race, despite having the lone incumbent on either ticket, could be the most competitive.
As for Youngkin, his campaign could use a rethink. Despite spending over $5 million, he remains defined not by his own ads (which seem to be an effort to avoid definition) but rather by former President Donald Trump (as our own Norm Leahy [3] noted), the pro-insurrectionist Fairfax GOP [4], and backing out of a debate because the moderator gave $250 … for Haiti hurricane relief (WaPo [5]).
Does anyone think Bob McDonnell – whose 2009 campaign is clearly Youngkin’s model – would do something so foolish? Even Ken Cuccinelli went ahead with the Woodruff-moderated debate against T-Mac in 2013.
Glenn Youngkin’s plan was clear: avoid any difficult issues and build a war chest to match the Democrats.
He’s already 0 for 2.