Republicans outraise opponents for Virginia special elections

Republican candidates who will run in two special elections for the General Assembly next week have raised significantly more campaign cash than their Democratic opponents.

Voters will go to the polls on Jan. 11 to replace two state legislators who were elected to Congress in November.

According to campaign finance reports due Monday and published by the Virginia Public Access Project, Republican lawyer Bill Stanley has a $10,000 lead on Democrat Hank Davis Jr. in a state senate race to replace state Sen. Robert Hurt (R-Pittsylvania). The reports showed that Stanley raised $64,875 between Sept. 1 and Dec. 31 and spent $40,789, leaving him with $24,085 to fund the final stretch of the campaign.

Davis raised $52,258 and has so far spent $38,125, leaving him with $14,132 in the bank.

The difference is even more striking in the Salem area, where Republican attorney Greg Habeeb and Democratic businesswoman Ginger Mumpower are competing to fill a vacancy created with the election of Del. H. Morgan Griffith (R) to Congress.

The reports show that Habeeb has raised $138,018 and spent $71,108 between Sept. 1 and Dec. 31, leaving him with $66,911 on hand to fund the final week of his campaign. Mumpower, by comparison, has raised $26,702 and has spent $23,579. The reports show that she had just $3,122 in the bank as of Dec. 31.