Democrat challenger raises more than $800K in contributions in run up to Tuesday primary

PETERSBURG – Monday was the deadline for the last campaign finance reports before next week’s General Assembly primaries, and a review of those records show a massive amount of money raised in Virginia’s most watched race which happens to include Petersburg

According to state Department of Elections data compiled by the nonprofit Virginia Public Access Project, former Del. Lashrecse Aird of Petersburg raised more than $814,000 during the period of April 1-June 8 for the 13^th Senate District Democratic primary. That is more than eight times the $97,000 amount raised in that period by incumbent Sen. Joe Morrissey, the person she is trying to unseat next Tuesday.

VPAP also showed that since 2022 when Aird first mentioned she was mulling a run, she has raised almost $1.4 million in contributions – more than three times the almost $400,000 Morrissey has amassed for the campaign. Aird trails only former Del. Jennifer Carroll Foy, a Petersburg native running for a Senate seat in northern Virginia, in the total amount of cash raised. Carroll Foy has raised $1.46 million.

However, the amount Aird raised for the last reported period before the primary was tops among all state Senate candidates. Carroll Foy was closest with $770,000.

On the House of Delegates side, the two Democrats vying to oppose incumbent Republican Kim Taylor in the 82^nd House District raised more than $95,000 between them for the reporting period. Kimberly Pope Adams raised more than $50,000 while Victor McKenzie Jr. collected almost $45,000.

Even though she is unopposed for the GOP nomination, Taylor managed to raise more than $100,000 during the reporting period.

Where did the money come from?

A large chunk of Aird’s donations came from political action committees pushing traditional Democratic platforms such as environmental and pro-choice.

The Clean Virginia Fund, a low-emission energy advocacy group, chipped in two donations of $75,000 and $50,000, her largest donations of the period. Aird also received $35,000 from frequent Democratic contributor Sonjia Smith of Charlottesville (the spouse of Clean Virginia founder Michael Bills), $25,000 from the pro-choice group Emily’s List and $10,000 each from Planned Parenthood of Virginia’s PAC and NARAL Pro-Choice Virginia’s PAC.

Aird has made reproductive rights a cornerstone of her campaign, attacking Morrissey as the only Democratic state senator to co-sponsor unsuccessful legislation to ban abortions in Virginia. Morrissey has said abortion goes against his Catholic faith, but he supports the decision as one to be made between a woman and her doctor.

Aird also claimed donations from the campaigns of several Virginia Democratic senators, including the six women in the chamber who endorsed her over their colleague Morrissey. She also is being backed by both of Virginia's U.S. senator and three Democratic congressional representatives, including newly elected Rep. Jennifer McClellan in the 4th District that encompasses Petersburg.

Morrissey’s largest donors, according to the data, were $75,000 from the Dominion Energy PAC and $7,500 from Meridian Waste Acquisitions, the owner of the Tri-City Regional Landfill in Petersburg. He also received $5,000 from the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, $3,500 from Altria and $2,000 from Roslyn Farms Corp. Owner Robert Walker. Walker owns the land in Petersburg where Morrissey has been pushing to build a casino in Petersburg.

During the primary campaign, Morrissey claimed that Aird is against the Petersburg casino because she is being supported by media company Urban One which is trying to build a casino in Richmond. However, a search of all Aird’s finance reports, including the one released Monday, does not indicate that. She did receive, though, $2,500 from Rivers Portsmouth Gaming LLC, which runs Portsmouth’s casino.

Aird began the reporting period with $418,000 in her account and spent $1.31 million in itemized and in-kind expenses. She closed the reporting period with an ending account balance of $100,814.

In-kind donations are usually goods or services provided in place of cash, but the expense amount must be recorded.

Morrissey began the reporting period with $319,000 in its account and spent $409,000 in itemized expenses. He did not have any in-kind expenses and finished the period with a $7,473 balance.

Eric Ditri of Prince George County is unopposed for the GOP nomination in the 13^th. His ledger for the reporting period indicated $9,222 in donations, including $2,000 from the Southern Virginia Leadership PAC.

Ditri began the period with $5,098 in his account and closed with $2,039. Expenses for the period totaled $12,281.

On the House

Adams’ largest contribution for the period was $25,000 from Emily’s List. Most of her cash donations – 106 – were for $100 or less.

She began the period with $15,667 in her account and closed it with $15,815. The campaign reported more than $50,000 in expenses.

McKenzie’s largest donation of the period came from former Virginia House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn's PAC, Energized for Change. He also received five separate $1,000 donations from five contributors.

His report indicated 199 contributions of less than $100.

McKenzie began the period with $80,691 in the account and ended it with $35,488. The campaign reported expenses of almost $90,000 during the period.

Taylor reported 100 contributions of more than $100 for the period. They included separate $10,000 donations from Dominion Energy, Virginia’s Back! political action committee and the campaign of fellow Republican Del. Michael Webert of Fauquier County.

Separate $5,000 donations were made by the campaigns of House Speaker Todd Gilbert of Shenandoah County and Del. Rob Bell of Charlottesville, and Cumberland Resources founder Richard Baxter Gilliam of Abingdon. Cumberland Resources is a coal-extraction company.

Taylor began the reporting period with $74,360 in her campaign account and closed it with $147,802. Records indicate her spending $31,249.

For a complete list of donations and spending by all Virginia candidates, go to the Virginia Public Access Project's website.

Bill Atkinson (he/him/his) is an award-winning journalist who covers breaking news, government and politics. Reach him at batkinson@progress-index.com or on Twitter at @BAtkinson_PI.

This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Primary campaigns release money reports in primary homestretch