Welcome Ed Gillespie to the Senate race! He has maybe a 15% chance of defeating Warner, who has $6 million in campaign funds, and is the wealthiest senator of all, at $274 million.

Gillespie, as former GOP chair, has connections to Republican donors. The more GOP money Ed can siphon off to waste in Virginia, the less available to Republicans elsewhere for House and Senate contests where money might matter.

(Rey Barry, Electronic mail, January 13, 2014