2009.11.03
Analysis: Most expensive governor's race ever
As the results come in tonight, we'll be providing some analysis of the returns. But there's some analysis we can do already. Thanks to some number-crunching from David Poole of the Virginia Public Access Project, a non-partisan tracker of money in politics, here's what we can say:
The momentum in last-minute money was all McDonnell: After 10/21, McDonnell reported donations of $5,000 or more totaling $1.5 million. The number for Deeds was $548,987. (See here for details.)
The differential was even more lopsided if you look at donations received on or after the Friday before the Election:
McDonnell $297,925
Deeds $ 40,000
McDonnell's efforts to make this election a referendum on national politics resonated with out-of-state donors. McDonnell raised 12 % of his money ($2,6 million) from outside Virginia/DC/Maryland. That compares to only 3 % for Deeds.
His message was particularly well received in the oil patch. Here are the top 10 states:
$406,033 NY
$372,541 TX
$224,950 CT
$140,584 CA
$135,500 FL
$130,249 IL
$122,092 WA
$114,115 PA
$109,981 GA
$ 92,200 LA
Below is a list of out-of-state donors who gave at least $25,000 to McDonnell.
Amount Last_Name First MI Suffix City State
$100,000 Jones Paul T II Greenwich CT
$100,000 Singer Paul
New York NY
$93,503 Microsoft Corp
Redmond WA
$80,000 Perry Bob J
Houston TX
$75,000 EAM Services LLC
Tarrytown NY
$50,000 Heavin Gary
Gatesville TX
$50,000 Asness Clifford S
Greenwich CT
$50,000 InTrust Wealth Management
Wichita KS
$45,000 Diefenthal Edward L
Metairie LA
$35,000 Saunders Thomas
III New York NY
$33,000 WalMart Stores Inc
Bentonville AR
$30,000 Bachman Nathan D
Cincinnati OH
$29,500 USAA
San Antonio TX
$29,130 Nau John L III Houston TX
$28,000 GEO Group Inc
Boca Raton FL
$26,066 Silver Eagle Distributors LP
Houston TX
$25,000 Villages
The Villages FL
$25,000 Perry Doylene
Houston TX
$25,000 Devon Energy Corp
Oklahoma City OK
$25,000 Gaby Richard
Duluth GA
$25,000 Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann
New York NY
$25,000 HCR Manor Care
Toledo OH
$25,000 Shaw Group Inc
Baton Rouge LA
$25,000 Consol Energy Inc
Pittsburgh PA
$25,000 McInerney Thomas
New York NY
$25,000 Trump Donald J
New York NY
$25,000 Groff Howard
Northridge CA
$25,000 Groff Susan
Northridge CA
Despite recession, this will be most expensive Governor's race ever. During the four-year cycle, all candidates had spent $47.3 million through October 21. That breaks the record of $46.7 million set in the four year cycle in 2005.The final numbers will not be known until January. (See here for details.)
We'll be back with more analysis as the evening goes on.
-- Dwayne Yancey, senior editor
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