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Republican incumbent Jeannemarie Devolites Davis spent more than $1.6 million but still could not win re-election in Virginia.
In the most expensive contest - the 34th Senate district bout between Democrat Chap Petersen and Republican incumbent Jeannemarie Devolites Davis - the candidates combined to raise $740,000. More than one-third of that total came from the re-election fund of Davis' husband, U.S. Rep. Tom Davis.
Davis spent about $533,000, roughly $90,000 more than Petersen, but still lost to the Fairfax City attorney by 10 percentage points as the Democrats took control of the Senate. Overall, Davis spent $1.6 million on the race. Petersen's spending reached $1.46 million, making the contest the costliest legislative race in Virginia's history.
The battle's price tag swelled considerably in late October, when Davis began airing ads on network television, which costs significantly more than the commercials candidate have traditionally bought on cable stations.
"That spending was to make sure we did not get blown away by her on network television," Petersen said. "I didn't start buying network ads until late in the game. I didn't go up on the air on networks until Oct. 20."
Petersen will not have to run for re-election until 2011, but when he does, his campaign will start off with a healthy bank account. Records indicate Petersen ended the race with $267,796 on hand.
"That makes a nice war chest for incumbency protection," said Mark Rozell, a political scientist at George Mason University.
Democrat George Barker and Republican Jay O'Brien raised about the same amount in the campaign's final two weeks ($125,461 for Barker to O'Brien's $118,001). But Barker ousted O'Brien, the GOP incumbent in the 39th district covering Southern Fairfax and northern Prince William counties, by 761 votes in the race that gave Democrats the majority.
Democratic challenger Janet Oleszek outraised Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax, in the 37th district by $230,000 in the last two weeks, but still fell by 92 votes on election night. The votes are not final pending a recount.
