In August, Virginia Democrats polled Debra Rodman’s suburban Richmond district to determine whether they should support her race.
The poll, which cost $3,800, found John O’Bannon, the 16-year Republican incumbent in Virginia’s House of Delegates, with a 12 percentage point lead. Nearly half of voters said they’d support him. That was enough for the state party to spend no more than $3,800 in that race, said Noah Dion, Rodman’s campaign manager.
“They said, you know what, we have a number of candidates we need to put money into,” and Rodman wasn’t one of them, Dion said in an interview. He doesn’t blame Virginia Democrats for focusing on other races. But he says he knew O’Bannon, a “Trumpcare” supporter who voted to allow concealed carry for machine guns, could be defeated.
That’s where Forward Majority came in.