Elections for all 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates are taking place on November 2, 2021. Democrats hold 55 seats and Republicans hold 45 seats. This is the first election cycle since 1999 with Democrats defending a majority in the chamber.
In this article, we’ll look at the 10 closest contests from 2019 and see how the fundraising compares between election cycles. Two of these 10 races resulted in the seat changing partisan hands from Republicans to Democrats (Districts 28 and 83) last cycle.
Ten closest elections in 2019
Of the 10 closest races from the 2019 election cycle, there was an even split between Democratic and Republican victories. Candidates in these districts raised a total of $5.9 million in fundraising at this point in 2019. This cycle, candidates in those same districts have raised a total of $6.8 million.
Across the 100 districts in 2021, candidates in each district have raised on average $393,362. Eight of the 10 districts with the closest 2019 margins have raised more than that on average. The two to not meet that average are both districts held by Republicans.
| District | 2019 MoV | 2019 fundraising | 2021 fundraising |
| District 73 | D+4.5 | $561,022.58 | $928,158.74 |
| District 83* | D+0.12 | $636,073.31 | $913,555.09 |
| District 28* | D+4.1 | $499,073.22 | $855,925.61 |
| District 85 | D+3.4 | $541,561.69 | $808,842.06 |
| District 84 | R+2.4 | $445,833.90 | $794,113.10 |
| District 27 | R+0.62 | $607,977.43 | $666,440.06 |
| District 75 | D+2.1 | $108,441.91 | $632,729.37 |
| District 66 | R+4.6 | $1,648,306.55 | $561,708.31 |
| District 100 | R+3.9 | $436,818.66 | $385,646.85 |
| District 81 | R+4.4 | $376,179.83 | $210,370.06 |
*Districts that changed partisan hands in 2019
The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active Virginia candidate political action committees (candidate PACs) submitted to the Virginia Department of Elections. It includes fundraising activity between Jan. 1, 2020, and Aug. 31, 2021, as well as Jan. 1, 2018, and Aug. 31, 2019. Candidate PACs represent individuals who have run for state or local office at any point, including past and present officeholders. This article does not include non-candidate PACs.
This article was published in partnership with Transparency USA. Click here to learn more about that partnership.