Dominion Energy Virginia contributed an additional $1 million to Virginia state level politicians as large, late donations for the pre-primary elections. The largest amounts were given to Shannon Taylor for Attorney General, and Levar Stoney for Lieutenant Governor. State law requires that large late checks be reported quickly, especially this close to elections.
Clean Virginia, an activist group that is no slouch when it comes to campaign dollars, claims the total amount of support for Taylor by the regulated electric utility has reached $800,000. This, they claim, is the “largest amount ever directly donated by an electrical utility to a competitor in a competitive U.S. race.” Taylor will face fellow Democrat Jay Jones on Tuesday in the close-out primary.
Who can prove that? Who can prove it? This is a large sum of money. It has reached this level because the Attorney General of Virginia appears in many cases before the State Corporation Commission. On this list of Dominion late donations, the former Richmond mayor Levar Stoney was awarded $193,000 – more than Shannon. Dominion has given him a total of nearly $700,000. This is a lot for a candidate running to be lieutenant governor.
Dominion was equally generous or even more so with many other Virginia legislators during this campaign. The “competitive races” qualifier in Clean Virginia is worth watching, because the majority of Virginia legislators who are heavy hitters live in safe districts. Dominion has given six-figure donations to two state Senators who represent pure blue districts that are not on the ballot for 2025.
Clean Virginia, on its part, has pumped an additional $665,000 in late and large dollar donations into campaigns. One campaign. Jones received $175,000 and spent the rest of it (or at least most of it) on a media campaign against Taylor, focusing on her accepting Dominion’s generous gifts.
Clean Virginia tracks the spending on the State Board of Elections’ website (just as you can). This page is where you can search for a committee or candidate name. The link will show the Dominion Report and the Clean Virginia report. Data had not yet been migrated to Virginia Public Access Project. Checking again on Monday night, just before the polls are opened is a good idea.
Dominion Virginia and Clean Virginia have also split their bets on the six contenders for the Democratic nomination of Governor. Each has two candidates. Dominion gave substantial amounts to Stoney but less to Babur Lateef, a Prince William candidate. Clean Virginia gave to Gazala Hashmi, Aaron Rouse and other candidates.
Dwayne Yacey’s online Cardinal News has a focus on energy and included two energy-related questions in its list of questions to the candidates for lieutenant Governor. The question focused how to close the gap between electricity supply and demand.
Babur Lateef responded in a more detailed paragraph that Virginia must adopt a “all-of-the-above” energy strategy. Levar Stoney chose the phrase, “we must invest in an all-of-the above approach” as well. Both do not mention natural gas, and instead focus on solar, wind, and battery. However, the now-cliched phrase, “all of it above”, is often misinterpreted to mean that natural gas is being considered. The only two who use that coded phrase are also the only ones to receive funding from Dominion. Could be a coincidence. Just a thought.
