Political Notebook: Areizaga-Soto/Favola Race Heats Up

The race to replace outgoing state Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple heated up this week thanks to a new attack piece to hit mailboxes.

Arlington County Board Member Barbara Favola and Army National Guard Lt. Col. Jaime Areizaga-Soto are seeking the seat.

Areizaga-Soto has criticized Favola for accepting certain campaign contributions before -- particularly, , given that the Arlington County Board often has a say in development projects.

This week, his campaign hit her again: This time, for accepting a donation from a developer who usually contributes to Republicans. BlueVirginia has the mailer posted with links to background on the donor in question.

Earlier this week, the two squared off in what seems to have been a tame forum hosted by the Arlington County Democratic Committee. The Sun Gazette called it "low-key." BlueVirginia has some tweets and video of the opening statements from Favola and Areizaga-Soto up.

I sat down with Areizaga-Soto today, and hope to do the same with Favola soon. Especially with second quarter disclosure reports coming due.

In the meantime, I'm going to brush up on Virginia campaign finance laws. Feel free to share anything quirky, interesting or shameful about those laws below. Remember, I'm still kind of new here.