Three lawmakers made the rare move this summer and broke from the most prominent Democratic donor, Clean Virginia, and accepted money from their political rival, Dominion Energy. The two have been at odds since Clean Virginia arrived on the political scene in the late 2010s.
Since 2018, Clean Virginia has given nearly $20 million to Democratic candidates in Virginia. During that same time, Dominion donated nearly $18 million to Democrats and more than $15 million to Republicans.
Clean Virginia, which advocates for clean energy and government, requires the candidates it supports to reject donations from utility companies, especially Dominion Energy. The organizations has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past against candidates that flip to Dominion, but that did not deter these new defections.
“I greatly appreciate [Clean Virginia’s] past support and our shared clean energy goals,” said Del. David Reid, D-Loudoun, who is one of the three legislators who flipped. “However, I have become increasingly uncomfortable with allowing one lobbying group to decide my relationship with other groups and companies.”
State Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, and Kelly Convirs-Fowler, D-Virginia Beach, also accepted Dominion’s money. Rouse received $90,000, and Reid and Convirs-Fowler each received $70,000.
“I respect the work that Clean Virginia wants to do, but nobody will dictate my relationships or decisions,” Convirs-Fowler said in a statement to Virginia Scope.
Rouse declined to comment for this story.
Clean Virginia did not speak specifically to what their response will be, but history shows that they heavily support primary challenges to Democrats who cross them.
In 2021, Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Hala Ayala flipped on Clean Virginia in the final weeks of the primary and took Dominion money to help her win the nomination.
Clean Virginia responded by launching a $125,000 digital ad campaign attacking Ayala in the final days of the primary. She still squeaked out a victory and won the nomination before losing to Winsome Earle-Sears in the general election.
Since its inception, only three Democrats — prior to this year — have flipped on Clean Virginia: Ayala, former HD-84 candidate Michelle Joyce, and former Del. Clint Jenkins. None of the three holds elected office now.
Clean Virginia also successfully primaried multiple sitting legislators who have always taken Dominion money. They spent $650,000 in 2023 to back Sen. Stella Pekarsky, D-Fairfax, in her primary win over longtime Sen. George Barker, D-Fairfax. Dominion spent $347,000 backing Barker.
Earlier this year, the two megadonors were very publicly at odds in the attorney general race for the Democratic nomination between Jay Jones and Shannon Taylor.
Clean Virginia spent $1.1 million supporting Jones, while Dominion spent $800,000 backing Taylor. Clean Virginia went on the offensive in the final days, releasing attack ads against Taylor focused on the Dominion money she received, even putting up signs at voting locations on primary day to hammer home their point.
Jones squeaked out a narrow victory, leading to all three statewide nominees on the Democratic ticket being backed by Clean Virginia and not Dominion Energy.
Dominion is not without its wins, however. Clean Virginia spent $515,000 in 2023 to try to oust sitting Democratic Sen. Dave Marsden, D-Fairfax, who accepts money from Dominion. He won reelection, as did Del. Candi Mundon King in 2021, when Clean Virginia spent nearly $350,000 trying to defeat her in a primary.
“Dominion’s business model is clear: use customers’ money to gain influence in the legislature to increase its profits,” said Brennan Gilmore, the executive director of Clean Virginia. “Recent elections have reinforced that Virginians want leaders who do not take money from public utilities. This is particularly true at a time when electric bills are at an all-time high and simply unaffordable for too many Virginians.”
Dominion says that the money it spends on politics comes from its employees and shareholders, not from the money Virginians pay for electricity every month — but Clean Virginia still wants to ban public utilities from donating to politicians.
They try to push through legislation each year that would do so, but it has failed each year.
“Like most companies, we participate in the political process on behalf of our customers and employees,” said Aaron Ruby, a spokesperson for Dominion. “Our contributions are bipartisan and transparent, and we don’t ask candidates to make pledges.”
Though she herself does not accept Dominion money, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger has not committed to signing legislation banning political contributions from utility companies. In June, Spanberger told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that if elected, she would “work with the legislature on a variety of potential reforms in the campaign finance space.”
History suggests Reid, Rouse and Convirs-Fowler may not have heard the last from Clean Virginia, but they said their focus remains on serving their constituents.
“My responsibility is to the people and community that I represent, not to lobbyists and special interests,” Convirs-Fowler said. “I will remain committed to my work toward making Virginia more affordable for working families and ensuring that government by the people works for the people.”