Political Profile for Virginia

Limits to Campaign Contributions

Candidates are allowed to receive unlimited contributions per political action committee (PAC), per election cycle.

Candidates may make unlimited contributions to their own campaign from their personal funds.

Candidates may not accept contributions from a super PAC, but they may accept contributions from unions and corporations.

Filing Deadlines

Candidates are required to file detailed reports on their campaign donations and expenditures. Transparency USA provides accurate, searchable data within days of the following filing deadlines.

See campaign finance report deadlines here.

Additional reports may be required by Virginia filers. If a report is skipped (often because its deadline is close to another), the data from that report is captured in the next update.

The Virginia General Assembly

The Virginia General Assembly meets in session every year beginning on the second Wednesday in January. The Virginia General Assembly’s regular session is limited to 60 days in even-numbered years and 30 days in odd-numbered years. Under the Virginia Constitution, sessions may be extended by 30 days if two-thirds of each chamber votes in favor of the extension.

Virginia House Representatives serve two-year terms. 

Virginia State Senators serve four-year terms.

Term Limits

Virginia has no limits on the number of terms a politician may serve.

How We Display Virginia Campaign Finance Data

Campaign finance is complex, with reporting practices that vary widely from state to state. As a reporting system — and not a balance sheet — contributions and expenditures do not balance the way we’d expect if it were an accounting system. In most cases, this does not mean that the data is incomplete, but rather, that entities are following Virginia’s unique reporting requirements. 

To help put the numbers in context, we’ve created a state-specific explanation of how we display information reported:

Data Explanation for Virginia