Several political races in West Virginia this campaign season are becoming expensive propositions, according to the most recent filings with the Federal Election Commission.
West Virginia 2nd District Representative Shelley Moore Capito has spent $5.3 million, but she remains flush for the stretch run in the campaign for U.S. Senate. The Republican’s filing shows she had $3.4 million on hand at the end of last month.
Her Democratic Natalie Tennant, is being outspent more than two to one. Tennant’s quarterly report shows her campaign has spent $2.2 million, but she has $1.1 million on hand for the remaining weeks.
Independent spending in the senate race in West Virginia totals $2.3 million through the end of September, and almost all of it is going Capito’s way. The biggest third-party spenders for Capito have been the National Rifle Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The largest independent expenditures are coming in the hotly-contested race in West Virginia’s 3rd Congressional District. Independent groups have spent nearly $8 million through the end of last month to influence voters in the race between Republican Evan Jenkins and Democrat incumbent Nick Rahall. Most of the spending has come from the national Democratic and Republican campaign committees.
According to the FEC reports from the candidates themselves, Rahall doubled Jenkins’ spending: Nearly $2 million by Rahall to $1 million for Jenkins through Sept. 30. Jenkins had $461,410 on hand for the final weeks, while Rahall had $381,713.
The spending has been remarkably even in West Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District race. Democrat Nick Casey has spent $1.4 million with $224,000 on hand while Republican Alex Mooney has spent $1.3 million and retains $318,000 in the bank.
Most of the $400,000 in independent expenditures in the 2nd District have been from conservative groups in support of Mooney.
Incumbent Republican Congressman David McKinley has a decisive financial advantage in the 1stDistrict race against Democrat Glen Gainer, the state Auditor. McKinley had spent $1.2 million through Sept. 30 and still had $1.1 million on hand. Gainer had spent just $229,000 and had $189,000 left in the bank.
Meanwhile, one of the most notable independent expenditures this campaign season is for the West Virginia Statehouse. Several labor organizations have created a PAC called Honest West Virginians. It has raised nearly $1 million to try to help Democrats retain control of the West Virginia House of Delegates.