How much money does it take to make a Democratic candidate forget about a call for resignation?
If the latest round of campaign finance reports are right, the going rate is anywhere between $5,000 and $15,000.
That’s the takeaway from an analysis done by the Washington Free Beacon today, which found no fewer than 13 Virginia Democratic candidates for the House and Senate had taken money from Governor Ralph Northam’s PAC during the last reporting period.
Democrats couldn’t denounce Northam fast enough in February. Dels. Kelly Convirs-Fowler, Dawn Adams, and Schuyler VanValkenburg, all issued prominent calls for Northam to resign following his blackface/moonwalking scandal.
“He should do the honorable thing and step aside,” VanValkenburg tweeted in February.
“Anything less than resignation is unacceptable,” Convirs-Fowler told the Nation.
All three Democrats accepted $5,000 checks from Northam’s The Way Ahead PAC, the same PAC that paid out $30,000 for Northam’s crisis communications team.
Democratic House candidates Karen Mallard and Larry Barnett, both of whom called for Northam to resign, took checks from his PAC as well.
Other delegates accepting money from Northam included Alex Askew, Larry Barnett, Sheila Bynum Coleman, Nancy Guy, Clint Jenkins, Karen Mallard, Shelly Simonds, and Rodney Willett.
Del. John Bell, who is running for a state Senate seat, also took money — $15,000.
“I stand with the @VaBlackCaucus and the @VAHouseDems and also call for Governor Northam to resign,” he tweeted on Feb. 1.
Northam’s PAC does not have to report its fundraising on the same schedule as candidates, but previous reports showed that the Governor’s ability to raise money was all but gone in April.
The Way Ahead had raised only $2,500 in the time following his yearbook scandal.