10th Congressional District Race: Campaigns Rake in Cash During Second Quarter

McLEAN, VA -- The campaigns for the candidates vying to represent Northern Virginia's 10th congressional District are raking in the cash from supporters according to figures released this week by the campaigns.

Democratic candidate LuAnn Bennett’s campaign announced that it raised more than $507,000 in the second quarter of 2016 for the 10th congressional District race. Bennett is hoping to unseat Congresswoman Barbara Comstock, a Republican, in November. Comstock was elected two years ago, taking the seat that was long held by Republican Frank Wolf.

Bennett has now raised a total of more than $1.2 million this cycle from more than 2,000 individual donors, her campaign noted in a news release Thursday announcing the donations. Bennett will start the quarter with more than $871,000 cash on hand.

The Comstock campaign raised $737,000 in the second quarter, with $2.3 million cash on hand, according to the campaign. "We are proud of the strong support we are receiving every day in the District and of another strong fundraising quarter..." said Ken Nunnenkamp, Comstock campaign political director, in an announcement about the donations. "This will complement Congresswoman Comstock’s hard-working campaign so we can run through the finish line in November."

Virginia’s 10th district, currently held by Comstock, is one of the DCCC’s “Red-to-Blue” target races and has been recently upgraded from “Likely Republican” to “Lean Republican” by the Cook Political Report and Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball, the Bennett campaign pointed out.

On Monday, the DCCC announced a seven-figure national ad campaign that includes Virginia’s 10th district and targets Comstock, tying her to the presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.

“Barbara Comstock is on defense, hiding from the press and her constituents as she’s confronted daily with difficult questions about her party’s nominee Donald Trump,” said Bennett’s spokesman Robert Howard. “While Comstock refuses to admit she’ll be voting for Trump, LuAnn Bennett is raising the resources needed to wage a strong and serious campaign in the increasingly diverse, highly-educated 10th district of Virginia. LuAnn’s background as a successful businesswoman and problem-solver stands in stark contrast to the divisive, partisan agenda represented by the Trump-Comstock ticket.”

The Comstock campaign's comments were equally sharp this week: "Our partisan opponent hasn’t lived in the District for most of the past ten years and just moved into the District a few months ago after being recruited by national Democrats after every local Democrat took a pass on the race," Nunnenkamp said. "While our opponent is unknown in the 10th District and has little campaign presence in the District, we understand that as a self-funder who is being promoted by Nancy Pelosi and partisan national groups that she will have millions to fund her left-wing campaign. We will not let up, and we will not be outworked as we fight for the priorities of the 10th District."

See more information here about donations to both campaigns from the Center for Responsive Politics.

PHOTOS: Congresswoman Barbara Comstock (left) and Democratic challenger LuAnn Bennett/official photos.