Virgil Goode raised $154 for likely 2010 bid

Former GOP Congressman Virgil Goode’s latest fundraising total could hardly be called a warchest.

Between April 1 and June 30, Goode raised $154, according to federal campaign finance reports filed Wednesday.

Goode represented the 5th District — which stretches from Charlottesville to Danville — for six terms until he was defeated last fall by U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello in the closest congressional race in the nation.

In early March, Goode filed to run for re-election, but the Rocky Mount native had not made a final decision about running against Perriello in 2010.

Goode, 62, has said that he will make an announcement “before too long” about whether or not he’ll try to reclaim his old seat. He did not return a call for comment Wednesday.

Goode has made a few public appearances in the district, most recently at an anti-tax “Taxed Enough Already” rally in Danville on July 4.

The lack of campaign contributions is a sign that Goode might be leaning toward not running, said Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.

“That to me is a signal that he’s not running,” Sabato said. “Let me add, Virgil’s full of surprises.”

Whoever the GOP nominates to run against Perriello, Sabato said, that candidate will require hundreds of thousands of dollars to stay competitive.

According to Federal Election Commission reports, Perriello raised $215,400 in the second quarter of 2009.

Goode, who had cash left in his campaign account after last November’s election, has roughly $139,200 cash on hand.

Goode spent a bit more than $15,000 during the second quarter, paying his office’s utility bills and making political contributions to Del. Watkins Abbitt, I-Appomattox, Virginia House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, and other conservative candidates and organizations.

Perriello’s campaign account, meanwhile, has around $382,000, according to documents filed Wednesay.