As the race to be Virginia’s next governor entered the homestretch, frontrunner Abigail Spanberger (D) and Republican Winsome Earle-Sears have been furiously campaigning — and fundraising, raking in more than $21 million during the first three weeks of October.
Spanberger ended the disclosure period covering Oct. 1-23 with about $4 million in her war chest, more than three times Earles-Sears’ cash on hand. Spanberger has consistently held a fundraising advantage and maintains a lead over her in polling as well.
Historically, Virginia almost never elects a governor from the same party as the sitting president, with the state’s off-year elections often viewed as a referendum on the administration. That could be a good sign for Democrats, who hope the Nov. 4 election marks a critical litmus test in their effort to flip Congress in 2026. The party has been rallying around Spanberger, showing up with financial support and visits from high-profile Democrats.
For example, the Democratic Governors Association has contributed more $10.4 million to Spanberger’s campaign, dwarfing what it’s spent in any other Virginia race since at least 2012. The committee has been ramping up its spending, contributing about $3.1 million to Spanberger in October alone.
Virginia is one of 12 states in the U.S. that doesn’t have limits on contributions to political candidates, allowing individuals, organizations and companies to dig deep. Before October, about 31 percent of contributions donated were more than $100, but they made up about 87 percent of total cash contributed to Spanberger and Earle-Sears’ campaigns.
Dominion Energy donates nearly $11 million amid voter concern over energy rates
Utility costs and energy sources have become a major topic of discussion through the race, with residents concerned about their rising rates and how data centers may affect their monthly bills. Dominion Energy has been the second biggest donor in Virginia across all races this cycle as of Oct. 7. While the company has long been among the top donors in state elections, not until 2022-23 did it rank second. This cycle, it has contributed $10.7 million to state candidates, just behind the House Democratic Caucus, which has donated $11.3 million.
The company projected in October that to keep up with surging energy demands while complying with the Virginia Clean Economy Act, residents’ monthly bills could increase as much $255 on average by 2035.
Created to oppose Dominion Energy’s large influence on Virginia’s elections, the Clean Virginia Fund has been donating to candidates who support clean energy and pledge to not receive money from Dominion. The committee was the sixth largest donor to Virginia’s races this cycle on Oct. 7, having donated a total of $4.6 million to state candidates.
While Dominion Energy donates to both Democrats and Republicans alike, 92 percent of contributions from Clean Virginia went to Democrats. Dominion doesn’t lean toward either party, but instead strategically hedges its bets. Its biggest contributions this year have gone to Attorney General Jason Miyares, who is seeking reelection,
Clean Virginia argues that Dominion’s donations to Miyares are a form of “corporate capture” and could lead to consumers having weaker protections against the utility giant.
The attorney general is in control of the Division of Consumer Council, whichrepresents ratepayers in cases with the State Corporation Commission. The SCC is in charge of regulating public utility companies like Dominion Energy.
The Clean Virginia Fund was founded and is solely funded by Michael Bills, founder of an asset management firm based in Charlottesville, Virginia. Bills founded Clean Virginia in 2018, and he has since become the state’s largest individual donor.
The state’s second biggest individual donor? His wife, Sonjia Smith. Together, they’ve contributed $6.3 million to state races, more than the Democratic Party of Virginia.
Abigail Spanberger
Spanberger was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2019 to represent Virginia’s 7th district. Before that, she worked as an inspector with the U.S. Postal Service and as a case officer with the CIA. Spanberger announced in 2023 that she was quitting Congress to run for governor.
She has campaigned on economic issues, focusing on the impact President Donald Trump’s budget and layoffs have had on Virginians.
The frontrunner — leading by double digits in recent polls — has raised a total of $65.6 million leading through Oct. 23.
Among her contributors:
- Spanberger’s top two donors are the Democratic Governors Association and the Democratic Party of Virginia, which donated $10.4 and $3.4 million, respectively, on Oct. 23.
- Single-issue groups representing concerns like the environment and abortion rights have also bolstered the campaign. Spanberger received $1.5 million from the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, a political action committee that represents environmental concerns, and $1.1 million from VoteVets, a PAC that supports veterans running for office. (Spanberger did serve in the military, but Earle-Sears is a Marine veteran.)
- Spanberger received $1.2 from the Clean Virginia Fund. She’s spoken out in support of diversifying the state’s energy sources with solar and offshore wind farms, and for policies to protect residents from having to pay a share of the costs of new data centers’ energy needs.
- The Sports Betting Alliance, which represents the betting industry, donated $500,000 to her. Betting on Virginia Jobs, a PAC affiliated with a casino company, also donated $325,000 to the Spanberger campaign.
- Virginia (home to around 320,000 federal workers) has felt the impact of the government shutdown. Each party is blaming the other for the shutdown, and Spanberger has attacked Earle-Sears for not denouncing Trump’s earlier cuts to the federal workforce. The Democrat received $402,000 from federal government employees through Sept. 30. In comparison, Earle-Sears received $110,000 from federal government employees.
Winsome Earle-Sears
Earle-Sears is wrapping up her four-year term as lieutenant governor, serving under Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R). Before being elected, she served in the U.S. Marine Corps and as vice president of the Virginia State Board of Education.
Her policy goals have focused on issues involving transgender children. In September, her campaign spent over $2 million on ads about transgender policy, more than it did any other topic.
Earle-Sears raised $35.5 million through Oct. 23. The past month marked a strong fundraising haul for the candidate, who raised $9.5 million compared to Spanberger’s $11.7 million.
Among her contributors:
- The largest contributor to the Earle-Sears’ campaign is RGA Right Direction PAC, which sent $4 million to her campaign on Oct. 28 alone. The super PAC tasked with putting Republicans in gubernatorial seats has donated a total of $9.5 million to the campaign.
- Robert Johnson, the billionaire co-founder of Black Entertainment Television, donated $500,000 to Earle-Sears’ campaign after she was targeted by a racist sign at a campaign rally in August. Johnson’s contribution is the largest sum donated from an individual to her campaign.
- Billionaire Republican megadonor Thomas Peterffy is the second largest individual donor to Earle-Sears’ campaign. He donated $300,000 to her campaign in March.
- The Earle-Sears campaign and PAC received a total $410,000 from Dominion Energy, a utility company that serves the majority of Virginians. During the gubernatorial debate, Earle-Sears criticized the Virginia Clean Economy Act, saying that the state should rely on a broad range of energy sources, including those that emit greenhouse gases.
- “We need clean coal, we need oil, we need nuclear, we need natural gas, and we need, yes, renewables,” she said. “My opponent’s only plan is solar and wind. Well, what happens when the sun goes down?”
- The top sectors contributing to Earle-Sears include the political space, real estate and construction, financial services, retail and service, energy and technology.
The race for attorney general
Down ballot, the attorney general’s race has been more competitive, and both candidates have hit record fundraising records. Incumbent Jason Miyares (R) has raised $24.3 million, more than was raised by Republicans in the past three races combined. Miyares not only leads Democrat Jay Jones in fundraising, he’s begun to lead in recent polling as well.
The possibility of a split ticket seems to be increasing as Jones faces backlash over a scandal involving his text messages. Miyares led Jones by 1 point in recent polling from the Wason Center, after trailing by 6 points in the center’s Oct. 6 survey.
Jones’ and Miyares’ top donors are the Democratic Attorney Generals Association and Republican Attorney Generals Association, respectively.
Dominion Energy donated $1.4 million to Miyares, making his campaign not just the largest recipient of their funds this cycle, but the largest recipient of Dominion’s funds over any one campaign cycle in the past two decades. They were his third largest donor after his own PAC.
Similarly, Clean Virginia’s $1.1 million in contributions to James makes its contributions to his campaign the largest amount the organization has sent to any campaign in one cycle since its founding.
House of Delegates races
Democratic candidates for the Virginia House of Delegates have set a record for the amount of money raised at this point in an election cycle, outraising Republicans by better than 2-to-1.
Democratic and Republican House candidates have raised a total $66.2 and $26.2 million, respectively. Democrats are running candidates in all 100 House districts, while Republicans are only running 83.
In every competitive district, Democrats are outraising Republicans by a wide margin. On average, Democrats in competitive districts are outraising Republicans at a 2.5-to-1 rate.
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