VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Campaign finance data analyzed by the Virginia Public Access Project shows fundraising totals for the 2023 Virginia November elections have set a record for total fundraising amounts when including both parties in both chambers.
On Nov. 7, all General Assembly seats are up for grabs in the already-split lawmaking body.
Republican candidates have fundraised more than $17 million in each chamber, which ranks the highest financial level for the party according to data as far back as 2011 (adjusted for inflation). In the House of Delegates, that reveals a more than $5 million increase since 2011, and a similar increase for the Senate races as well.
Still, those fundraising efforts are below Democratic candidates who report more than $20 million in fundraising for the House of Delegates, and more than $26 million for the Senate.
In total, the money raised for this election cycle is more than $80 million as of August 31, while both parties have similar finances in the "Cash on Hand" category.
The VPAP analysis comes days after the Democratic National Committee confirmed to 13News Now a $1.2 million investment to Virginia races, and days before the start of the state's early voting period.
“We don’t have an election day, we have a seven week election day," Jeff Marks said, Chairman of the Virginia Beach Board of Elections.
There were approximately 167,000 early votes cast both in-person and through mail-in absentee during the 2021 November election cycle.
More and more Republican voters, according to Marks, are utilizing early voting options in recent years.
“The early voting on machine was really about 50/50 between Republicans and Democrats. Mail-in have been well in favor of Democrats," Marks said.
“Republicans seem to be embracing the mail in process a little more than they have before," he added.
In Virginia Beach, which saw 56,000 early votes in 2021, satellite locations will open for voters in an eight day window before the last day of in-person early voting on November 4 (except Sunday). Until then, voters can cast ballots in person at the Registrar's office.
Early voting dates to know
- First day of in-person early voting at your local registrar's office: Friday, September 22, 2023.
- Deadline to register to vote, or update an existing registration: October 16, 2023 (Voters may register after this date, through Election Day, and vote using a provisional ballot).
- Deadline to apply for a ballot to be mailed to you: October 27, 2023. Your request must be received by your local voter registration office by 5:00 p.m.
- Voter registration offices open for early voting: Saturday, October 28, 2023.
- The last day of in-person early voting at your local voter registration office: Saturday, November 4, 2023 at 5:00 p.m.