Democrats and their aligned groups widely outspent Republicans in the Tuesday evening Virginia redistricting referendum, and the close margin has turned critical eyes on where the GOP has spent its money instead.

The referendum passed in a roughly 51% to 49% vote, marking a much closer margin than had been expected in the state that elected Gov. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., by double digits in the last election. The result is expected to clear the way for state Democrats to approve a new set of congressional maps that heavily favor the incumbent party. At present, Virginia has six Democrats and five Republicans in Congress. The new map is expected to send 10 Democrats and one Republican to Washington.

Record expenditure, but lopsided

The campaign set a record for the most expensive ballot measure in state history, with pro- and anti-redistricting groups spending a cumulative $83 million on the race, Axios reported. But $62 million of that spending came from Democratic-aligned groups in support of the group, meaning the “Yes” campaign enjoyed a nearly three to one spending advantage.

The roughly $40 million spending shortfall stands in stark contrast to the known Republican war chest. President Donald Trump’s own super PAC reportedly raised $35.6 million in March alone, Bloomberg News reported. Moreover, Trump and the GOP’s midterm war chest has collectively passed $1 billion. A $40 million donation from billionaire Miriam Adelson alone roughly accounted for the Virginia shortfall.

Allegations of "wasting" money

So where has the GOP spent its money this cycle? On defending incumbents in their primaries, evidently. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, formerly a candidate for majority leader, has spent nearly $100 million already in his primary challenge against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and appears poised to lose in the runoff anyway. 

The Senate map this cycle appears more favorable to Republicans than does the House and the difference between the Virginia maps could decide the lower chamber majority outright. The apparent trade-off between saving one Senate incumbent and four House incumbents has much of the MAGA commentariat questioning how the GOP spends its money.

Several MAGA-aligned analysts have drawn a link between the Cornyn campaign’s spending and the relatively weak GOP efforts to bolster the “No” campaign, pointing to political consultant Chris LaCivita. LaCivita was a senior advisor to the 2024 Trump campaign and served as the chief operating officer of the Republican National Committee in 2024. LaCivita founded FP1 strategies and one of the group’s partners, Mike Young, led the Virginians for Fair Maps or “No” campaign, the National Pulse reported. LaCivita is not currently listed as part of RNC leadership.

“There is a specific set of people who are in charge of the RNC coffers that mismanage money time and again, and guess what? The people who are in charge of this money, like Chris LaCivita and his team, are also the chief campaign consultants for John Cornyn, for Lindsey Graham, and for a host of other RINOs up and down the country!” National Pulse Editor-in-Chief Raheem Kassam said Wednesday on the Real America’s Voice network.

LaCivita, for his part, appeared to brush off the criticisms and responded to Kassam on X, saying “Being preached to by an illegal alien with a British accent on American politics — classic.”

Several Republican candidates running in primaries against RNC-favored candidates weighed in on the issue. “How much more donor cash will LaCivita and the RNC waste on Lindsey Graham?” asked Mark Lynch, who is challenging the South Carolina senator. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who faces the Trump-aligned and RNC-funded Ed Gallrein, said “[t]hey’ve wasted $10 million in my race already. Imagine if they had used that in Virginia.”

“Good thing Republicans spent $100 million on John Cornyn,” quipped Sean Davis, Editor-in-chief of The Federalist.

Punchbowl News described “hair-on-fire messages” from Republicans on Tuesday evening, asserting that GOP heavyweights were angry with leadership for refusing to put money into the race. 

Republican voter registration activist Scott Presler, for his part, summed up the general sentiment of Republicans after Tuesday night: “This is a reminder that Senator Cornyn & Cornyn allies spent nearly $100 million in the Texas primary for him as a 24-year incumbent to only come in first by 26,098 votes,” he said. “Imagine if some of that $ went to Virginia.”

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.