RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Democrats vying to shield their statehouse majority and flip the governor’s mansion in November raised millions of dollars more than Republicans in the first three months of 2025, according to newly released campaign finance reports, securing a cash advantage in their pursuit of voters frustrated with Republican tech billionaire Elon Musk.
For months, Democrats have tailored their campaigns around anti-Musk sentiment in Virginia, pushing ads blasting his initiative to overhaul federal spending during President Donald Trump's administration.
And campaign finance reports released on Tuesday suggest their strategy may be helping their cash flow: Former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger raised $6.7 million toward her campaign for governor between January and March, according to the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project. Democrats also raised more than $3.7 million during those months toward the House of Delegates elections, in which all seats of the lower chamber are on the ballot.
Del. Dan Helmer, the House Democrats’ campaigns chair, said following the reports' publication that the GOP "agenda is out of step with Virginians, and no last-minute attempt to distance themselves from President Trump and Elon Musk will save them.”
Republicans raised roughly $2.2 million less than Democrats in the House races, according to VPAP. Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears’ gubernatorial campaign brought home a little over $3.1 million, though, unlike Spanberger, she was unable to raise money during Virginia's 45-day legislative session.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Earle-Sears' campaign said: “We'll have the resources we need to share Winsome's story and take the case directly to voters — and that includes holding Abigail Spanberger accountable for her failures in Washington. This is just the beginning.”
The first-quarter financial reports reflect the national attention — and money — pouring into Virginia's off-year races. The state has been acutely impacted by Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency because it's where many federal workers live. Changes to the federal government have already sparked frustrations among Virginians, who have decried the changes during town halls and community meetings.
“Virginia elections are often about angry voters, and the most angry group of voters is the party who lost the White House the year before,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a political science professor at the University of Mary Washington. “Democrats are angry, and they’re putting their money where their irritation is.”
Behind some donations are multimillionaires and billionaires backing Spanberger, such $100,000 from venture capitalist and LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman. CEO Martha Samuelson gave another $100,000. Spanberger's largest donors so far this year were two political action committees: $500,000 from VoteVets Federal PAC and $250,000 from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Working Families Fund.
Earle-Sears' largest donation of $300,000 came from Florida-based billionaire Thomas Peterffy. Former U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy also contributed $50,000 to the lieutenant governor's coffers, and a political group affiliated with former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley also chipped in $5,000.
Among the slew of Earle-Sears' conservative donors, there is one person notably missing: Musk himself.
Musk and his affiliated groups have not yet contributed to Virginia's elections, according to a list of donors provided by VPAP. His absence comes after he and those groups sunk $21 million into flipping the Wisconsin Supreme Court to conservative control in early April, only to see his candidate lose by 10 percentage points.
“One of the big questions about the Virginia election this year is whether Elon Musk will weigh in like he did in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election recently,” Farnsworth said, later adding: “The question really is whether Musk will view Virginia as a good investment.”
This story was first published on Apr. 17, 2025. It was updated on Apr. 21, 2025 to correct that state Del. Dan Helmer is the Virginia House Democrats’ campaigns chair. Minor editing to conform.
Olivia Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
FILE - Elon Musk flashes his T-shirt that reads "DOGE" to the media as he walks on South Lawn of the White House, in Washington, March 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
U.S. President Donald Trump says Iran has proposed negotiations after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic as an ongoing crackdown on demonstrators has led to hundreds of deaths.
Trump said late Sunday that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports mount of increasing deaths and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night.
Iran did not acknowledge Trump’s comments immediately. It has previously warned the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has accurately reported on past unrest in Iran, gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran cross checking information. It said at least 544 people have been killed so far, including 496 protesters and 48 people from the security forces. It said more than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
The Latest:
Iran drew tens of thousands of pro-government demonstrators to the streets Monday in a show of power after nationwide protests challenging the country’s theocracy.
Iranian state television showed images of demonstrators thronging Tehran toward Enghelab Square in the capital.
It called the demonstration an “Iranian uprising against American-Zionist terrorism,” without addressing the underlying anger in the country over the nation’s ailing economy. That sparked the protests over two weeks ago.
State television aired images of such demonstrations around the country, trying to signal it had overcome the protests, as claimed by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier in the day.
China says it opposes the use of force in international relations and expressed hope the Iranian government and people are “able to overcome the current difficulties and maintain national stability.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday that Beijing “always opposes interference in other countries’ internal affairs, maintains that the sovereignty and security of all countries should be fully protected under international law, and opposes the use or threat of use of force in international relations.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned “in the strongest terms the violence that the leadership in Iran is directing against its own people.”
He said it was a sign of weakness rather than strength, adding that “this violence must end.”
Merz said during a visit to India that the demonstrators deserve “the greatest respect” for the courage with which “they are resisting the disproportional, brutal violence of Iranian security forces.”
He said: “I call on the Iranian leadership to protect its population rather than threatening it.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday suggested that a channel remained open with the United States.
Esmail Baghaei made the comment during a news conference in Tehran.
“It is open and whenever needed, through that channel, the necessary messages are exchanged,” he said.
However, Baghaei said such talks needed to be “based on the acceptance of mutual interests and concerns, not a negotiation that is one-sided, unilateral and based on dictation.”
The semiofficial Fars news agency in Iran, which is close to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, on Monday began calling out Iranian celebrities and leaders on social media who have expressed support for the protests over the past two weeks, especially before the internet was shut down.
The threat comes as writers and other cultural leaders were targeted even before protests. The news agency highlighted specific celebrities who posted in solidarity with the protesters and scolded them for not condemning vandalism and destruction to public property or the deaths of security forces killed during clashes. The news agency accused those celebrities and leaders of inciting riots by expressing their support.
Canada said it “stands with the brave people of Iran” in a statement on social media that strongly condemned the killing of protesters during widespread protests that have rocked the country over the past two weeks.
“The Iranian regime must halt its horrific repression and intimidation and respect the human rights of its citizens,” Canada’s government said on Monday.
Iran’s foreign minister claimed Monday that “the situation has come under total control” after a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests in the country.
Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim.
Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.
Iran’s foreign minister alleged Monday that nationwide protests in his nation “turned violent and bloody to give an excuse” for U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene.
Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim, which comes after over 500 have been reported killed by activists -- the vast majority coming from demonstrators.
Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.
Iran has summoned the British ambassador over protesters twice taking down the Iranian flag at their embassy in London.
Iranian state television also said Monday that it complained about “certain terrorist organization that, under the guise of media, spread lies and promote violence and terrorism.” The United Kingdom is home to offices of the BBC’s Persian service and Iran International, both which long have been targeted by Iran.
A huge crowd of demonstrators, some waving the flag of Iran, gathered Sunday afternoon along Veteran Avenue in LA’s Westwood neighborhood to protest against the Iranian government. Police eventually issued a dispersal order, and by early evening only about a hundred protesters were still in the area, ABC7 reported.
Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian community outside of Iran.
Los Angeles police responded Sunday after somebody drove a U-Haul box truck down a street crowded with the the demonstrators, causing protesters to scramble out of the way and then run after the speeding vehicle to try to attack the driver. A police statement said one person was hit by the truck but nobody was seriously hurt.
The driver, a man who was not identified, was detained “pending further investigation,” police said in a statement Sunday evening.
Shiite Muslims hold placards and chant slogans during a protest against the U.S. and show solidarity with Iran in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Activists carrying a photograph of Reza Pahlavi take part in a rally supporting protesters in Iran at Lafayette Park, across from the White House, in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Activists take part in a rally supporting protesters in Iran at Lafayette Park, across from the White House in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Protesters burn the Iranian national flag during a rally in support of the nationwide mass demonstrations in Iran against the government in Paris, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
