While you are relaxing in the shade and planning a beach vacation, our local political candidates are out beating the bushes for supporters, going door-to-door and raising campaign funds for the fast-approaching election in November.
Each member of the Virginia House of Delegates faces election every 2 years. In 2009, Loudoun will cast their votes for Virginia Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General, but they will also vote for their respective representative to the House of Delegates.
Five delegate districts represent Loudoun County. Each incumbent delegate is facing an opponent of the opposite political party with the exception of Delegate Joe May, who is unopposed.
To help serve as a barometer of the strengths of the various campaigns, the following provides a listing of the candidates’ success with fundraising and on certain social networking websites. Like all social media sites, the numbers keep rising and represent numbers gathered on June 30.
Facebook: This figure shows the number of “supporters,” “fans,” or “friends” that each candidate has on Facebook.
Twitter: Still something of an elite tool among politicians, this year has seen a leap forward among those using the micro-blogging site. The site allows users to “follow” other users and receive updates on their activities or thoughts.
Each candidate is required to file reports with the Board of Elections showing donations in excess of $100. The Virginia Public Access Project uses these records to make these reports easily accessible to the public at www.vpap.org.
Contributions: This figure represents the amount of money raised by the candidate in the first two quarters of 2009. Note that many of these candidates have a long history in politics, and have also carried over funds from earlier fundraising or campaign events.
Cash on Hand: This number represents the funds remaining open to the candidate as of May 27 (end of second quarter.)
13th District
John Bell (D)
Facebook: 382 Supporters, 461 Friends
Contributions: $126,109
Cash on Hand: $75,270
Bob Marshall (R)*
Facebook: 322 Supporters, 150 Friends
Twitter: 168 Followers
Cash on Hand: $20,303
Ending Balance: $57,922
32nd District
Tag Greason (R)
Facebook: 491 Group Members, 654 Friends
Twitter: 15 Followers
Contributions: $49,109
Cash on Hand: $8,895
David Poisson (D)*
Facebook: 93 Supporters, 181 Friends
Contributions: $78,106
Cash on Hand: $67,430
33rd District
Joe May (R)*
Facebook: 49 Supporters, 277 Friends
Contributions: $35,651
Cash on Hand: $34,436
86th District
Stevens Miller (D)
Facebook: 55 Supporters, 60 Friends
Twitter: 32 Followers
Contributions: $70,053
Cash on Hand: $39,686
Tom Rust (R)*
Facebook: 75 Supporters, 17 Group Members
Contributions: $122,551
Cash on Hand: $107,886
67th District
Chuck Caputo (D)*
Facebook: 47 Group Members
Twitter: 69 Followers
Contributions: $137,270
Cash on Hand: $88,778
Jim LeMunyon (R)
Facebook- 103 SupportersTwitter- 357 Followers
Contributions: $46,470
Cash on Hand: $35,612
*Incumbent
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