Valentine, Garrett rack up campaign donations in 23rd District race

Lynchburg’s House of Delegates race between Del. Shannon Valentine and Republican Scott Garrett shot past the $600,000 mark in fundraising this week as several Valentine supporters made four-digit contributions to her campaign.

The Democratic Caucus in the House of Delegates put $40,000 into Valentine’s treasury Monday, and four other supporters wrote sizable checks, pushing Monday’s total for Valentine to $52,500.

Garrett’s campaign, meanwhile, received a $10,000 boost from the Republican State Leadership Committee, one of the heaviest contributors in Virginia elections this year. The same committee gave Garrett $50,000 two weeks ago.

Garrett also received $8,000 from other supporters in recent days.

The funding totals were reported by vpap.org, the Virginia Public Access Project.

As of Tuesday, Valentine’s reported total of funds raised stood at almost $325,000, while Garrett’s total fundraising topped $276,000 — more than $100,000 of which was spent in a primary election in June.

Valentine said in a news release that her October contributions came from 245 donors, a larger base than any House candidate in the state.

More than half of those donors gave $100 or less.

“I think this speaks to the strong, broad grassroots support of this campaign,” Valentine said.

“For me there is nothing more important. This is truly a community effort,” Valentine said.

She also reported spending about $228,000 during the first three weeks of October, much of it with a TV-advertising company.

Garrett reported expenditures of $181,000 in October.