The Cameron Webb campaign raised more than $2.7 million in the third quarter – July 1 to Sept. 30 – a jaw-dropping figure for a Democrat in a heavily Republican district.
“I am humbled and grateful for the overwhelming support we’ve received these last few months,” Webb said. “Our fundraising numbers reflect the enthusiasm that I see and hear from voters on a daily basis.”
A poll released last week had Webb with a small lead over the Republican, Bob Good, who back in June upset the incumbent congressman in the Fifth District, Denver Riggleman, for the GOP nomination.
The Fifth has gone Republican since the 2010 cycle, in which Republican Robert Hurt defeated freshman Democrat Tom Perriello.
Good’s upset win over Riggleman opened the door for Democrats to perhaps be at least competitive, but even with the incumbent out of the race, it was going to be an uphill battle.
Since Hurt’s win over Perriello in 2010, the best showing by a Democratic candidate was Leslie Cockburn’s 46.6 percent in her race against Riggleman, also a first-time candidate, in 2018.
Donald Trump won the Fifth in 2016 with 53.1 percent of the vote, with Hillary Clinton getting just 42.1 percent in the far-flung district, which stretches from the Northern Virginia exurbs, through Charlottesville-Albemarle, all the way down to the North Carolina border.
Story by Chris Graham
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