Virigina Governor Race: Expensive Campaign Unpopular Among Voters and the Richmond Times Dispatch

Although the Virginia governor's race has broken records in becoming the most expensive campaign in the state, many voters say they are completely turned off from the front-runners who have lead a combative campaign.

At the end of September, Republican candidate Ken Cuccinelli and his party raised nearly $17 million, which is chump change compared to how much Democrat candidate Terry McAuliffe raised. According to WTKR, McAuliffe raised over $26 million for his campaign.

Both candidates have spent lavishly on TV ads. Cuccinelli spent $6 million, while McAuliffe has spent nearly $11 million.  Nonetheless, voters say that the candidates have been trash-talking each other throughout the campaign rather than proving why they deserve to be elected.

"But for voters, the ads are sound and fury, signifying nothing," voter Joyce Hardy told WTKR. "They're annoying. They're just annoying. I'm tired of it," added voter Jasmine Jones.

The election is two weeks from Tuesday, however, both candidates still have millions more to spend to ridicule one another.

The third-party candidate in the race, Robert Sarvis, a Libertarian, hasn't raised much money, but a recent CNU poll showed him with double-digit support.

Voters, however, aren't the only ones turned off from the tempestuous race--the state capital's flagship newspaper revealed Sunday that it would not endorse Ken Cuccinelli, McAuliffe or Sarvis.

In an opinion piece titled "Our choice for governor in 2013: None of the above," the Richmond Times-Dispatch said it could not "in good conscience endorse a candidate for governor."

The Times-Dispatch went on to criticized Cuccinelli, the state's attorney general, for his stances on social issues, specifically citing his opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage. "[Cuccinelli] pursues his divisive agenda with a stridency that was unbecoming in an attorney general and would be unbecoming in a governor," the paper wrote.

Despite being endorsed by both Bill and Hillary Clinton, the paper slammed McAuliffe for "not [conforming] to Virginia's history of fiscal restraint," and the paper called his knowledge of state government "laughable."

Lastly, Sarvis was dismissed as having "no experience applicable to the governorship, period."