RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring is still chipping away at campaign debt related to a recount last year after nearly a year in office Herring listed owing more than $365,000 to the law firm Perkins Coie, which helped Herring’s recount effort, on a campaign finance report filed in July. Herring aide Ellen Qualls said the attorney general continues to pay off the debt. Since February, a month after he was sworn in, Herring has spent more than $100,000 on political consultants and staff for his political action committee, campaign finance records show. Qualls said much of that spending has been focused on fundraising to pay off the campaign debt. Herring defeated state Sen. Mark Obenshain last year in the closest statewide race in modern Virginia political history.
