By Gerald Ochs

By Gerald Ochs

Rappahannock News Writer

Although local 7th District Congressional candidate Ben “Cooter” Jones still has a long way to go in his effort to unseat freshman Congressman Eric Cantor, recent information regarding both finances and voter preferences might give him some bit of hope.

Mr. Jones took on a colossal task when he announced his candidacy for Congress last March. He faced a well-financed, conservative Republican incumbent in an area that firmly expressed its right-handedness in the .year 2000 races. And he started virtually from a standstill.

Campaign finance information recently filed with the Federal Election Commission does show significant activity for the Jones campaign in the past quarter, with a 134 percent increase in contributions over that recorded for the period ending June 30 of this year.

Although the campaign’s gross receipts are still small compared to that received by the Cantor campaign, the pace of campaign contributions has accelerated — a fact that can only be regarded favorably.

Campaign funds

Mr. Jones’ tally through September 30 is $132,396 in total receipts, of which the lion’s share — $119,152 — is from individual donors.

During the July through September period, Ben “Cooter” Jones’ contributions included absolutely no PAC money, either directly or indirectly, and he has so honored his pledge to avoid those special interest funds.

The incumbent Cantor’s war chest — although it grew only by 27 percent through the last period — is ten times greater than that of Mr. Jones. And he has more than $400,000 in available cash as of September 30, compared to just $30,000 for the Jones campaign.

Different styles

The funds available to the candidates now will dictate how they will disseminate their views during the last weeks before the November 5 elections.

With sufficient funds to purchase television, newspaper and radio advertisements, Mr. Cantor will obviously make full use of the media.

Mr. Jones will have to rely on