McDonnell hauls in $2.2M in first quarter

This is going to be some race. Republican Bob McDonnell said Monday that he raised $2.2 million in the first quarter of his bid for Virginia governor, according to the AP.

That trails former Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry “I’m a fundraising machine” McAuliffe, who hauled in $4.2 million. Former Delegate Brian Moran said he raised $800,000 and the third Democrat in the June primary, state Sen. Creigh Deeds, brought in about $600,000.

McDonnell’s haul comes even though he couldn’t raise money from Jan. 14 to Feb. 20, the start of the state legislative session to the day he resigned from his post as state Attorney General.

A good chunk of McDonnell’s money, $1 million, came in one contribution from the Republican Governors association – a sure sign of the importance of the race to national Republicans.

These numbers are staggering. As the AP notes, the candidates are well on pace to destroy the $41 million record for a Virginia governors race set four years ago.

Even though it appears from these numbers that McDonnell and McAuliffe are heading toward a high priced shoot out, Moran appears to be leading in the Democratic primary. DailyKos/Research 2000 poll last week showed Moran holding a 24 percent to 19 percent lead over McAuliffe.

jeremy.jacobs@digital-stage.thehill.com