RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is struggling to raise big money in a key election year after a blackface scandal nearly ended his political career.
New campaign finance reports filed Monday show the Democratic governor raised slightly more than $300,000 between April and June. That’s far below the seven-figure hauls his predecessors, former Govs. Terry McAuliffe and Bob McDonnell, raised during similar periods when they were in office.
Northam almost resigned in February after a racist picture surfaced from his 1984 medical school yearbook page. He denied being in the picture but admitted to wearing blackface as a young man.
Virginia governors cannot serve consecutive terms but are typically their party’s biggest fundraisers for off-year legislative elections.
All 140 seats in the General Assembly are on the ballot in November.
