In Richmond, Dr. Danny Avula won the mayoral contest by carrying six of the city’s nine council districts (the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th) and securing nearly half of the citywide vote in a five-candidate race.
Following Avula with majority support in the 6th, 8th and 9th council districts was Michelle Mosby, former city council president.
And in third was top fundraiser Harrison Roday, with about 13% of the popular vote. According to the Virginia Public Access Project, at $1.2 million Roday spent about $50,000 more than Avula ($1.15 million) and roughly $850,000 more than Mosby ($344,000).
Alex Keena, a Virginia Commonwealth University political science professor, said that shows money isn’t everything, particularly in local politics.
“I think people have this misconception that money offers an advantage when it comes to winning votes, but it's not really the case,” Keena said. “If you look at political science literature, there's a large volume of evidence that shows there isn't a strong correlation between the two.”
But the size of some donations, particularly for Avula and Roday, caught Keena’s attention.
“There's a lot of money coming in the form of five-digit checks. And that doesn't necessarily mean, like, grassroots support that's going to translate to votes,” Keena said.
Instead, name recognition and grassroots engagement are what help candidates like Avula and Mosby.
During VPM News’ election night coverage, Features Editor Whittney Evans asked University of Richmond law professor Hank Chambers how campaign finance played into the elections.
“The key is that you need to have at least enough money to get your message out. It’s not necessarily the case that having more money will mean that you win, but having enough money to make sure that voters know who you are and know what you’re about is the real key,” Chambers said.
Keena said the big checks brought in by Avula’s campaign may raise “legitimate” concerns about mayoral access.
Avula’s biggest single contribution was $69,500 from the Home Builders Association of Virginia’s Richmond chapter.
“He made affordable housing a feature of his campaign, and obviously we have a housing crisis in Richmond, so it's not a good or bad thing,” Keena said. ”It's just whose voice gets to shape that policy.”
Federal electoral campaign donations are subject to restrictions, but there are no such restrictions in Virginia politics.
