Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Ken Cuccinelli has received a total of $14,815,328 in donations this election cycle, about half of his Democratic opponent, Terry McAuliffe.
Center for Politics Spokesperson Geoffrey Skelley said donations were a good predictor of electoral success.
“I think the way you have to look at is the candidate that raises the more money wins more often than not, its not always true but its always better to be on the higher end.”
Cuccinelli’s top donors were the Republican Governors Association ($7,916,261), Republican Party of Virginia ($679,844), and Richard Uihlein ($150,000). Uihlein is the CEO of Uline Inc., which distributes shipping, industrial, and packaging materials to businesses throughout North America.
When it comes to private contributions, Cuccinelli became embroiled in controversy when he accepted more than $18,000 in gifts from CEO Jonnie Williams of Star Scientific—a technologically oriented company focused on health and wellness. As a result of public backlash, Cuccinelli has since donated the money to a Richmond-based charity.
Cuccinelli’s top donations come from the political field ($8,943,446), followed by miscellaneous industries ($1,076,895) and then energy and natural resources ($997,619).
Christopher Piper, manager of election services for the Virginia State Board of Elections, said Virginia’s Campaign Finance Disclosure Act of 2006 and campaign finance laws more broadly were built around the idea of disclosure, but place no limits on donation amounts. Federal campaign, in contrast, have limits on donations for individuals and groups.
“Candidates and committees can raise money in any amount from any source, but they are required to disclose every single contributor whose aggregate contribution exceeds $100,” Piper said in an email. “All expenditures must be disclosed and the additional information is quite expansive (e.g. contributor employer, occupation, mailing address, city/state of employment are all required to be disclosed).”
Another important aspect of the CFDA is that committees may not accept anonymous contributions. According to the cash-basis reporting system that the state uses, which is similar to the method of balancing a checkbook, contributions are recorded on the date the funds are received, rather than deposited.
The CFDA also covers limitations on candidate expenditures. Campaigns must report expenditures in the period that they are actually paid, rather than as they are owed.
Cuccinelli’s total disbursements added up to $14,956,560, with money going to the Republican Party of Virginia, TV and radio ads ($6,921,121), staff and consultants ($1,299,674) and mailing, printing and postage ($696, 468).
“[Expenses play a] significant role in the sense that Terry McAuliffe has out-raised Cuccinelli by a fairly large degree, giving him resources to produce a message about Cuccinelli that voters have been receptive to,” Skelley said.
Skelley said voters understood Cuccinelli to be controversial and conservative, which McAuliffe has pounced on in producing the phrase “he’s focused on his own agenda, not us.” In contrast, in his ads, Cuccinelli has focused on statements that McAuliffe favors outsourcing and raising taxes.
With $1,059,984 left as cash on hand, Cuccinelli will spend his remaining money on his last push of the campaign in these final weeks.
Cuccinelli has served as Attorney General since 2010, and in the 2009 General Election, he spent a total of $2,962,660.
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