With the election less than a week away, the two candidates for the District 93 seat in the Virginia House of Delegates have seen large infusions of cash into their races in the month of October, according to reports filed recently with Virginia’s State Board of Elections.
The Virginia Public Access Project is a nonprofit that tracks money in Virginia elections. That group updated its website this week with last-minute filings in October for the two candidates, showing hundreds of thousands of dollars flowing into the District 93 election from all over Virginia and beyond. District 93 encompasses Williamsburg, part of Newport News and parts of James City and York counties.
Incumbent Republican Mike Watson received a $150,000 donation on Oct. 10 from Howell for Delegate, a committee for William Howell, the speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates. He also got $110,000 from that same committee Wednesday.
Watson has also picked up more than $150,000 in October from other sources. Much of that figure comes from Dominion Leadership Trust, a committee that raises money for Republican candidates. That committee sent Watson $131,800 in September, plus an additional $95,000 in October. He has received a total of $407,286 in contributions and in-kind contributions in October. Former coal executive Marvin Gilliam sent Watson $5,000.
Democratic challenger and current chairman of the Williamsburg Economic Development Authority Monty Mason is looking to unseat Watson. He’s picked up $316,913 between Oct. 1 and Oct. 23. His biggest donor in that time is the Virginia House Democratic Caucus, which has sent $217,000 to Mason’s campaign. He has also received a $56,785 in-kind donation from the Democratic Party of Virginia.
Many of Mason’s contributions have come from outside the Historic Triangle. The Democratic Caucus is based in Richmond, while the Washington, D.C.-based United Food & Commercial Workers sent him $3,500. He has also received $7,500 from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and $4,650 from Planned Parenthood Virginia as an in-kind donation for direct mail.
Mason has in the month of October received almost 70 percent of the total amount received by the re-election campaign for Robin Abbott, a Democrat who held the District 93 seat from 2010 until Watson took the seat from her after defeating her in the 2011 election. She raised about $460,000 in her 2011 bid against Watson’s approximately $550,000.
By comparison, this campaign has seen Watson raise about $917,825 since Jan. 1, 2012. For 2013, Watson has spent $386,712 on television and radio ads along with $73,157 in donations to party committees and $68,114 to staff and political consultants. Mason has put $304,487 into television and radio, with another $59,132 going toward direct mail.
The election takes place Tuesday.
