Va. Senate race raking in millions with months to go

http://hamptonroads.com/2014/04/va-senate-race-raking-millions-months-go

Va. Senate race raking in millions with months to go
By Julian Walker
The Virginian-Pilot
© April 16, 2014

RICHMOND

If Virginia’s pricey 2012 U.S. Senate race is a template for this year’s contest, voters should prepare for a barn burner with millions in opaque political cash raised and spent in the run-up to November.

Consider: The re-election campaign of U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat seeking a second six-year term, has already raised $11.2 million towards that effort with nearly eight months until Election Day, including $2.7 million in the first three months of this year.

Former Bush White House veteran Ed Gillespie, a onetime lobbyist and a strong contender to win the Republican nomination, appears to be keeping pace, raising $2.2 million after entering the race in mid-January.

He and Warner each outdid their party counterparts for the same January through March period two years ago, when eventual GOP nominee George Allen raised $1.2 million and Democratic candidate Tim Kaine hauled in $2.2 million.