Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe is bringing in major cash from out-of-state, according to campaign filings released yesterday evening.
McAuliffe’s campaign was boosted by generous contributions from out-of-state political action committees, which contributed more than $141,000 to him during the period.
Included was a $64,434.55 contribution from the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, $25,000 from the National Education Association Fund for Children and Public Education, and $15,000 from Women Vote Action.
Also contributing were Tampa Bay’s OSI Restaurant Partners PAC and the Machinists Non-Partisan Political League.
McAuliffe’s biggest contribution came from the Baltimore Law Office of Peter G. Angelos, the owner of the Baltimore Orioles.
Angelos has been a major source of cash for the Democratic Party. Angelos contributed $1.6 million to Democratic Super PACs during the 2012 election cycle alone in addition to more than $100,000 to Democratic candidates and committees.
He has also been a longtime source of cash for McAuliffe.
McAuliffe told a story of a 2002 lunch with Angelos in which McAuliffe left with a $1 million check for the Democratic National Committee in his book "What a Party!"
McAuliffe used his lunch with Angelos as an example of one of the cornerstone strategies of his fundraising career: "Get the drinks going early so everyone is loosened up and feeling good," but "don’t let them drink so much that they later forget their commitment."
"You never turn down a drink, especially when you’re going to ask for a million bucks," recalled McAuliffe. "We drank and got the million. And Angelos remembered the commitment."
Also contributing to McAuliffe’s campaign from outside of Virginia was power-lobbyist Steve Elmendorf, who worked with McAuliffe on Dick Gephardt’s failed 1988 presidential campaign.
McAuliffe additionally received a $2 million donation from the Democratic Governors Association, which is twice what opponent Ken Cuccinelli received from the Republican counterpart during the same period.
Fundraising outside the state of Virginia has become a pattern for the McAuliffe campaign, a boon for critics attempting to portray him as a "Virginia outsider."