With Richmonders primed to elect a new mayor in a little less than five months, the race to Election Day is in full swing. As the competition heats up, candidates are seeking to fuel their campaigns with fresh donations.
Harrison Roday, the nonprofit executive and businessman, reports a total of $572,869 in donations as of July 1, according to the latest Virginia Department of Elections campaign fundraising report.
However, latecomer Danny Avula, former state superintendent of social services, isn’t far behind with a total of $525,935.
Michelle Mosby, former 9th District Council representative, lags behind with $223,694; Andreas Addison, current 1st District Council representative, follows with $95,690; and community organizer Maurice Neblett reports the least donations with $2,434.
Roday, who launched his campaign in mid-February, has raised an additional $70,000 from the previous filing period, nearly doubling his funds since April.
Following campaign expenses, Roday reports a total of $407,879 cash in hand.
His fundraising includes 468 donations. His largest donors are Thomas McInerney, president and CEO of Henrico-based Genworth Financial, who has given $60,000; and Richmond business leader James Ukrop, who had donated $25,000.
Danny Avula
Avula, the last candidate to enter the race, raised a total of $117,027 since the previous filing period — averaging $34,000 a week in donations. Avula’s campaign has received donations from 401 people.
Following campaign expenses, Avula reports $408,908 cash in hand.
Avula’s largest donors are private citizens, primarily friends and family, with top contributions coming from Kenneth Ray Newsome ($25,000), Niran Wijesooriya ($11,000) and Jonathan Avula ($10,000). Other donors include Jeff and Robert Ukrop and the Save Democracy PAC.
Michelle Mosby
From June 6 to June 30, Mosby raised $18,792, adding to her total of $223,694 from 748 donors.
Mosby, who was the first to announce her candidacy, reports $91,289 cash in hand.
Among Mosby’s top donors are NAACP Richmond chapter President J.J. Minor ($20,000); former Richmond Deputy Chief of Staff and Mosby’s campaign manager Don Mark ($16,500); and real estate firm Ujima Properties ($8,600).
A large portion of Mosby’s donations are under $1,000 and from constituents.
Andreas Addison
Addison, who announced his candidacy in mid-February, raised $14,000 during the most recent filing period from 35 contributions. As of June 30, Addison reports $19,260 cash in hand.
His top donor is Gary Watkins ($10,000), co-founder of a business consulting firm.
Maurice Neblett
Neblett, who announced his campaign in January has reported the lowest tally of campaign donations with a total of $2,434 − $1,076 collected during the last filing period.
As of June 30, Neblett reports $1,792 cash in hand.
Neblett is supplementing his own campaign with all of his donations coming out of pocket.
On the campaign trail
Mayor Levar Stoney, who is finishing his second four-year term as mayor, cannot run for the office again. He had set his sights on the governor’s office, but then announced in April he was instead seeking the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.
Richmonders will cast their ballots for mayor and their council representative on Nov. 5 from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Early voting begins Sept. 20.
The deadline for candidates to file was June 18. The Richmond General Registrar’s Office finalized the official ballot on June 21.