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Rep. Moran Raises Big Despite Lack of Challenger

Rep. Jim Moran (D) at the Civic Federation debateRep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) raised more than $336,000 in the second quarter of 2013, a large haul considering it’s for an election that’s not happening until 2014 and doesn’t yet include a another announced candidate.

Moran, who is in the first year of his 12th term, now has $577,115 cash on hand through two quarters of fundraising, according to the Federal Election Commission. His campaign spent $121,523 in the quarter.

Moran was able to raise a healthy amount of funds despite not yet having a declared challenger. Mike Ginsberg, the chair of Virginia’s 8th District Republican Committee, said no candidates have expressed interest in running for the seat Moran has held since 1991, but he “suspects we’ll have a few come out in the fall.”

In last year’s election, Moran was challenged by Bruce Shuttleworth in the Democratic primary. Shuttleworth said he expects to announce his decision on whether to run again in the fall.

“I am very strongly leaning in one direction, but I don’t want to make an official announcement until the fall,” he told ARLnow.com.

Shuttleworth said he doesn’t want to take attention away from the statewide races for the governor’s office and the House of Delegates. Shuttleworth announced his candidacy last February, just four months before the June primary.

“You clearly need to jump in earlier than I did last year,” he said.

The biggest donors to Moran, who sits on the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, were the political action committees of large defense contractors. Among the boldfaced names and organizations donating to Moran in the quarter ending June 30 were:

  • Connecticut billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Tudor Jones II and his wife — $5,000
  • Lobbyist Tony Podesta of the Podesta Group — $1,500
  • Brian Moran, the congressman’s brother and former chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia — $1,075
  • The Chickasaw Nation, the Oklahoma-based Native American tribe — $1,000
  • Lockheed Martin PAC — $10,000
  • Computer Sciences Corporation PAC — $10,000
  • ManTech International PAC — $6,500
  • Raytheon PAC — $5,000
  • Boeing PAC — $5,000
  • Unisys PAC — $5,000
  • Electrical Contractors PAC — $5,000
  • Harris Corporation PAC — $4,000
  • Home Depot PAC — $2,500

Organizations representing U.S. Postal Service employees collectively donated $5,500 during the quarter.

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