Last month, voters in Virginia elected Republican businessman Glenn Youngkin as the state’s new governor to replace Democrat Ralph Northam. With the election of Youngkin, voters chose a Republican as their governor for the first time since 2014, in a state Joe Biden carried in 2020 by over 10 points.
Youngkin defeated Democratic nominee and former Governor Terry McAuliffe by nearly two points in a race that attracted national attention. The latest campaign finance data is now available and features previously unreported fundraising and spending from the final days before the election. Here is the complete picture of the candidates’ financial positions on Election Day.
The Candidates
Three candidates were listed on the ballot on Election Day, in addition to an option for voters to choose a write-in candidate.
Terry McAuliffe was the Democrat on the ballot for governor this year. McAuliffe previously served a term in the role from 2013 to 2017, but was term-limited from seeking re-election in 2017.
Glenn Youngkin was the Republican nominee for governor and the eventual winner of the general election. Youngkin made his first bid for elected office in 2021, having previously spent his entire career in the private sector. He most recently served as CEO of private-equity firm The Carlyle Group before entering politics.
Princess Blanding, a teacher and activist, was the third candidate on the ballot, representing the Liberation Party in the general election.
Fundraising Overview for the Candidates
Here’s a look at the candidates’ finances on Election Day, as well as how much the candidates spent per vote received.
Gubernatorial Candidates’ Campaign Finance, 1/1/2021- 11/25/2021
| Terry McAuliffe (D) | Glenn Youngkin (R) | Princess Blanding (Lib) | |
| Contributions | $68,304,379 | $47,902,783 | $35,962 |
| Top Donors | Aggregated Unitemized Cash Contributions ($7,686,062), Democratic Governors Association – Virginia ($6,833,924.72) | RGA Right Direction PAC Federal($10,700,000), Aggregated Unitemized Cash Contributions ($3,674,142.25) | Aggregated Unitemized Cash Contributions($13,334), Chrischa Ives ($8,000) |
| Loans (not included in contributions) | $0 | $20,000,000 | $0 |
| Expenditures | $58,923,209 | $60,192,237 | $29,529 |
| Votes Won | 1,600,116 | 1,663,596 | 23,125 |
| Cost-Per-Vote (Expenditures/Votes Won) | $36.82 | $36.18 | $1.28 |
Key Campaign Finance Takeaways
- A Close Race Across Every Metric. In the race between the Democratic and Republican candidates, overall stats remained nearly identical through the end —not only in vote count, but across the major campaign finance metrics. McAuliffe’s $68.3 million in contributions was nearly evenly matched by Youngkin’s $67.9 million between contributions and loans. Both spent around $60 million in their campaign efforts, with a cost-per-vote landing between $36 and $37.
- Personal Loans Paid Off for Youngkin. All $20 million loaned to Youngkin’s successful campaign efforts were personal loans from Youngkin himself. Loaned in increments ranging from $1 million to $5 million, the final $3.5 million loan was made a few weeks ahead of election day on October 13, 2021. Loans can be an effective strategy to support a campaign effort, and Youngkin will likely be able to quickly repay the loan with donations made to his campaign account in support of his new position. (TUSA recently published a Texas-specific article on lending to campaign accounts, but many of the same principles apply to other state regulations).
- Small Dollar Donors Feature Prominently in Fundraising. All three candidates feature Aggregated Unitemized Contributions (AUC) as either the first or second largest donation total. We define AUC as “total donations collected by some candidates in which the individual donations or the total contributed by an individual during an election cycle or reporting period is below a certain threshold which would require a detailed, itemized campaign finance report entry.” Both Youngkin and McAuliffe also received top donations from prominent party PACs.
A complete overview of donations and expenditures for each of the candidates in this Virginia gubernatorial race can be found here. Click on the name of any candidate in this race for more details. Subscribe to get the latest campaign finance data as soon as it becomes available.