Dem to lead PAC focused on gaining control of Virginia House

A Democrat who earlier this year ran unsuccessfully in the Virginia gubernatorial primary will lead a new PAC aimed at wresting control of the state’s House of Delegates from Republicans.

According to The Washington Post, former Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.) will lead the Win Virginia PAC, which has so far raised $260,000. 

“It’s a unique opportunity because we have such dynamic candidates up and down the ticket and such an enthusiasm gap in our favor,” Perriello told the Post.

“We think this is the year to break some of the normal rules of the political landscape in Virginia.”

Virginia House Minority Leader David Toscano (D) said that President Trump’s victory last November pushed donors to begin contributing money to the PAC.

{mosads}“It was the Trump election that led them to say, ‘We have to up our game a bit,’” Toscano told the newspaper. “And the first chance to really do that is in the Virginia House races.”

The group will focus on ways to employ technology in addition to raising money for Virginia campaigns.

Perriello lost to Ralph Northam, the state’s current lieutenant governor, in the race for the Democratic nomination for governor. Northam will face Republican nominee Ed Gillespie in November’s gubernatorial election.

Voters in November will select candidates for all 100 seats in Virginia’s House of Delegates, where Republicans currently hold 66 seats. 

–This report was updated at 10:23 a.m.