Bell enjoys sizable lead in donations
Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle County, collected nearly three times as much campaign cash as his Democratic challenger in July and August, according to campaign finance reports filed Tuesday afternoon.
Bell, a lawyer who has served in the House since 2002, received a total of $74,436 from 344 donors during the most recent filing period.
“We’re still on target. Raising money is an important part of the modern campaign,” Bell said. “We are working most days of the week and every weekend. We’re working as hard as we can to win in November.”
Bell’s challenger, Democrat Cynthia Neff, a former IBM executive and Albemarle resident, brought in $25,984 from 141 donors during the same two-month period.
“Things have been building,” said Michael McCall, Neff’s campaign manager. “We’re on track to have enough money to fund a strong challenge and to get our message across.”
Heading into the fall campaign season, Bell enjoyed a sizable cash advantage with $570,251 available in his campaign account. Neff, for her part, had the not inconsiderable sum of $83,716.
The race between Bell and Neff is one of only three contested House races in the Charlottesville region.
In each race, the incumbent enjoyed a huge fundraising advantage over his challenger.
Del. David J. Toscano, D-Charlottesville, raised $36,321 from 143 contributors during the most recent filing period. Toscano, a lawyer and former Charlottesville City Council member, has served two terms so far in the House.
Toscano’s independent challenger, Robert Brandon Smith III, did not raise any money during the period.
As of Aug. 31, Toscano was heading toward the Nov. 3 election with $15,608 in the bank. Smith, meanwhile, had no money in his campaign account.
Del. R. Steven Landes, R-Weyers Cave, also had a cash advantage over his challenger, Democrat Greg Marrow.
Landes, who has served in the House since 1996, reported 46 cash donations totaling $9,260. As of Aug. 31, he had $25,896 in cash on hand.
Marrow, a Navy veteran and an optometrist who practices in Harrisonburg, reported receiving a total of $5,910 from 30 contributors. Marrow had $889 left in his campaign account at the end of August.
Reader Reactions
I think that Rob Bell deserves the highest possible marks for his public service. It would be hard to see the benefits of artifically imposed term limits, in general—ostensibly, a bad representative can be un-elected; why toss a perfectly good one?
The part that I don’t get—we are talking, potentially, of spending half a million dollars on a campaign for Delegate?
“Raising money is an important part of the modern campaign.“—no, Rob, its a dopey part, and contributing to the myth that it is an important part perpetuates bad behavior that is 1) unnecessary, 2) bad stewardship of financial resources, 3) reflective of poor judgement.
I urge Mr. Bell to reconsider—find a better use for that campain cash, and/or return it.
Ah…the power of incumbency. Move along folks, no need for term limits here.
Good work on the part of constituents gets rewarded and that is certainly the case with Bell.
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