Boucher vs. Griffith: The war over money

The congressional race in southwest Virginia's 9th District has finally started in earnest and here's where they stand when it comes to the all-important money game.

U.S. Rep. Rick Boucher (D) has nearly $2 million in the bank while his likely Republican challenger, Morgan Griffith, majority leader in the state House of Delegates, has $104,000, according to new finance reports that will be filed next week.

Yes, that's some disparity. But there's a couple ways you can look at those numbers.

On the one hand, Griffith is going to have a hard time catching up to Boucher, a 28-year incumbent who essentially had a $1.7 million headstart when Griffith jumped into the race in February.

On the other hand, Griffith didn't do too bad -- raising $104,000 in a two-week period last month while Boucher raised $317,199 in the full-three month fundraising period from Jan. 1 to March 31. (Griffith chose not to fundraise until after the legislative session was over even though state law does not prohibit it.)

Republicans will officially choose a nominee at a May 22 convention. The main event is, of course, in November.