"When Karen Schultz looks in the mirror, she sees the biggest donor to her state Senate campaign.

Schultz, a Winchester Democrat, had put $55,350 of her own money into her race for the 27th District, an open seat because of the retirement of Republican state Sen. H. Russell Potts Jr. That accounted for the bulk of the nearly $73,000 she reported raising as of March 31, state election records show.

"I would never ask anybody to step up unless I believed in the cause and would do the same thing myself," Schultz said in a recent interview. "So I was pleased to be able to plan and be able to contribute to my campaign."

Give and take

Schultz, a former member of the Winchester School Board who is an associate professor at the pharmacology school at Shenandoah University, is making her first bid for legislative office. The next campaign-finance reports, which run through Thursday, will show gifts from other donors, she said.

She ranked as the secondlargest donor to Senate candidates between Jan. 1 and March 31, according to the Virginia Public Access Project. While many of the top donors to House or Senate contenders are politically muscular corporations, political action committees or wealthy activists, some are the candidates themselves.

Voters will decide all 40 Senate and 100 House of Delegates seats on Nov. 6, putting pressure on candidates to raise millions of dollars to pay for increasingly expensive races. In addition, some candidates face nominating contests, including primaries, for their party's nod to run for the General Assembly.

During the first three months of this year alone, donors gave state legislative candidates more than $2.1 million, according to VPAP.

Schultz won't know who her Republican opponent will be until June 12, when primary voters will decide between Jill Holtzman Vogel, a Warrenton attorney, and Mark D. Tate, a former vice mayor of Middleburg. Tate has been indicted on 11 counts of election fraud and perjury and is scheduled to appear in Loudoun County Circuit Court on June 5.

Vogel and Tate had raised more than $793,000 combined by March 31, a figure that could reach $1 million by the time of next month's vote.

As of the end of March, House candidates - who run every two years - had spent more than $5 million, while Senate contenders - who seek election every four years - had plunked down about $7.2 million, according to VPAP. Candidate spending includes money raised before this year.

Constant calls

In a state where there's an election every year, candidate pleas for money are constant.

Republicans control both chambers, but Democrats hope to pick up seats this fall and are aggressively raising money. Moving Virginia Forward, the political action committee of Democratic Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, gave $80,000 to legislative candidates between January and March and entered April with about $840,000 in its coffers.

Unlike federal elections, no giving limits exist in Virginia. The state is one of a handful where candidates can accept checks for any amount, as long as the donations are disclosed.

Ralph Northam, a Virginia Beach Democrat who is challenging Republican state Sen. Nick Rerras of Norfolk, was his campaign's second largest donor at $25,405 as of the end of March. His father, Wescott, was his top contributor with $68,000.

Northam's parents live on the Eastern Shore, which the, 6th Senate District includes..

Northam's father "has some concerns on the Shore, just as I do," said Northam, an assistant professor of neurology at the Eastern Virginia Medical School who is making his first run for office. "He has a lot of confidence in what I can do."

Northam reported raising near

ly $171,000 as of March 31, compared with a little more than $268,000 for Rerras. However, Northam entered April with more cash.

Blackout dates

That's partly because of a fundraising restriction that legislators and statewide office holders face that prohibits soliciting money during the assembly. This year, the legislature met from Jan. 10 through Feb. 24, effectively eliminating six weeks of dialing for dollars.

Many lawmakers squeezed in fundraisers during the 10 days before the session began or filled up March with events. About one-fourth of the money raised during the first quarter by legislative candidates came in the days preceding the session, according to VPAP.

Williams Mullen, one of the state's largest law firms, said giving to candidates is tied to events. The firm gave nearly $20,000 to 60 candidates, mostly before the session.

"We respond as they have events. If there are no events, we don't contribute," said Reginald N. Jones, chairman of the firm's governmental affairs section.

"We do not hand-deliver a check, and we don't talk about an issue with the contribution," Jones said. "It's simply to say thank you for serving." (Media General News Service, The Daily Progress, May 30, 2007)