FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Cassady Craighill, Clean Virginia Communications Director
[email protected], 828-817-3328
Clean Virginia Supports Del. Jay Jones’ Bid for Attorney General with $100,000 Contribution
An additional $145,000 goes to an unprecedented 50 General Assembly members who refuse contributions from Virginia utility monopolies
July 15, 2020
Charlottesville — Clean Virginia Fund, the Political Action Committee associated with advocacy organization Clean Virginia, contributed $100,000 to Delegate Jay Jones’ (D-Norfolk) campaign for Attorney General, which he formally announced this week, and a total of $145,000 to 50 members of the Virginia Assembly during the second quarter of 2020. Over a third of the Virginia General Assembly now share a principled stance against accepting contributions from Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power Company, the utility monopolies regulated by the General Assembly, and do not own stock in these corporations. Clean Virginia’s second-quarter giving totals $445,000, including $100,000 contributions to both Senator Jennifer McClellan’s (D-Richmond) and Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy’s (D-Prince William) campaigns for Governor, announced last month.
“Delegate Jones has demonstrated how hard he is willing to fight for everyday Virginians as evidenced by his bipartisan leadership during the 2020 General Assembly session to advance fair energy bills in Virginia,” said Clean Virginia Executive Director Brennan Gilmore. “Virginians deserve a leader like Jones who will prioritize justice for Virginia families and small businesses rather than protecting the excess profits of powerful utility monopolies.”
The 50 recipients of standard contributions from Clean Virginia Fund represent over a third of the Virginia General Assembly and include 41 House Delegates and nine State Senators. Clean Virginia contributes $2,500 and $5,000 annually to Delegate and Senators, respectively, who refuse political contributions from Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power Company, utility monopolies regulated by the General Assembly.
“Virginia is entering a new era of politics in which an emergent bipartisan coalition of lawmakers rightfully fights for fair energy policy that advances affordable clean energy, lowers prices, and brings new, high-paying jobs into the Commonwealth,” Gilmore said. “Dominion Energy has manipulated the General Assembly for too long, writing the rules that allowed them to overcharge Virginians by over $2.3 billion in the past decade. Now, over a third of Virginia’s legislative body considers the monopoly’s money toxic. It is only a matter of time and continued public pressure before the General Assembly bans Dominion’s political contributions for good and finally extinguishes the monopoly’s unchecked legalized corruption.”
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Clean Virginia is an independent advocacy organization with an associated Political Action Committee, Clean Virginia Fund. Clean Virginia works to fight corruption in Virginia politics in order to promote clean energy and community control over our energy policy. Clean Virginia’s funding is provided by founder Michael Bills. For details on Clean Virginia’s financial reports and political giving, please visit our listing at Virginia’s Public Access Project.