Chichester, Houck get campaign head starts

You mean incumbents get a head start in fundraising? Naw. . . if you read this article its slanted in just such a way that it makes the GOP contenders looks as if they are sitting on their hands. Pretty misleading if you ask me. Stuber has been very consistent since his announcement, while Rothfeld has only been active over five days.

Houck has nearly $63,000 in his campaign account, while Republican Robert Stuber has about $55,400.

But Houck raised about three times as much money as Stuber– nearly $29,000 to Stuber’s $8,840.

Stuber reported another $5,145 in “in-kind” contributions–“in-kind” meaning when someone donates a service or item rather than cash.

Now considering the fact that Rob Stuber just got back from seeing his son in China (which is only fertile campaign contribution ground if you are a Democrat), and furthermore really hasn’t held a true high dollar fundraising event, the fact that he so close to Houck speaks volumes about the strength of his campaign. Don’t worry about any perceived lack of funds, either. Rep. Jo Ann Davis won the 1st Congressional District Primary with only $40,000 in a five-way contest where heavy hitters Rothfeld and Jost spent much more. The long and short of this situation is that Rob hasn’t turned on the afterburners yet, not to mention that he hasn’t wasted his money on a $6000 campaign manager. In short, Rob is spending his money more effectively than Houck, plus he is getting more in terms of in-kind contributions, which means active grassroot support. So the average reader would look at this and see the discrepancy in amounts, but the politico looks at how well the money is being spent and where the candidates are getting it from. If Vegas had odds on Virginia elections, Stuber wins hands down.

As for the Rothfeld Campaign, the man has $44,000 dollars in five days?! That’s crazy! Way to go Mike!

SWAMI SEZ: Rob will outfundraise Houck when it is all said and done, and he will spend his money more effectively than the incumbent. Same for the Rothfeld-Chichester race. If political technology means anything, the amount spent per vote by GOP candidates recently has gone way down, as the price that Dems spend to get out the vote has remained steady or even increased slightly.