In the race for Virginia’s 24th House District, pre-election campaign finance reports were submitted on Tuesday by the two candidate vying to fill the state-level legislative seat of Congressman-elect Ben Cline (VA-6). After his victory in the midterm elections last month, he announced his retirement from the House of Delegates on December 18.
Speaker of the House Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights) scheduled the special election for the same day.
Republican candidate and Rockbridge County Supervisor Ronnie Campbell has raised $50,757 so far, according to campaign finance reports from the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP). From his published donor list, 13 Republican state legislators have put their financial support behind Campbell in a district that has been a solid part of the GOP majority in the General Assembly.
Campbell’s Democratic challenger Christian Worth has raised $36,268 during the same time period. She has received a large portion of her funding from the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) and the Democratic Party of Virginia, VPAP shows. In early December, the DLCC announced they would contribute $1 million to Democrats to regain the majority stake in the state legislature, giving Governor Ralph Northam (D) a clear line towards accomplishing his agenda.
The deadline to file for to vote in the election next Tuesday ends today, with the constituents of Amherst, Bath, Rockbridge, and southern Augusta counties and the cities of Buena Vista and Lexington voting on December 18.
The 24th House District has been a Republican stronghold for years, with the seat likely to remain under the one-member GOP majority in the House of Delegates through this election. As the 2019 election season begins with all 140 seats in the General Assembly on the ballot, Republicans will be looking to retain both the House and Senate majority in a state that has become increasingly blue in suburban legislative districts over the past couple election cycles.