By Shirleen Guerra | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – With just a week to go before Virginia’s June 17 primary election, new campaign finance filings and internal polls are revealing high-dollar influence and sharp messaging battles.
Dominion Energy has spent over $650,000 supporting Democratic attorney general candidate Shannon Taylor in recent weeks, including a $250,000 contribution last Wednesday and an additional $25,000 on Thursday, according to VPAP filings.
The support from Virginia’s largest utility has drawn criticism from Clean Virginia, a political advocacy group that opposes Dominion’s influence and backs Taylor’s primary opponent, former Del. Jay Jones.
Clean Virginia has backed Jones in the attorney general race, including a $147,876 media placement this month and additional support earlier in the cycle, according to campaign finance records.
Taylor responded on social media last week, accusing her opponents of launching “negative attacks” to distract from their lack of a record, and vowed she would “always fight back.”
Jones, a former delegate from Norfolk, has received backing from Clean Virginia and several progressive activists, as he tries to frame Taylor’s Dominion support as a conflict of interest in a race to lead the office that regulates public utilities.
As of June 9, Taylor had raised just over $1 million total, compared to more than $1.8 million for Jones. Republican incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares, who is unopposed in the GOP primary, has raised over $3.3 million and reported $2.1 million in cash on hand.
Clean Virginia and Dominion have long been viewed as rival political forces in Virginia campaigns. Since 2018, Clean Virginia has spent over $23 million to back candidates who reject utility influence, while Dominion has spent nearly $40 million since 2005, according to VPAP.
Democrats are also locked in a six-way primary for lieutenant governor.
State Sens. Ghazala Hashmi and Aaron Rouse, Dr. Babur Lateef, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, and challengers David Salgado and Alex Bastani are competing for the nomination.
Republican John Reid is unopposed for his party’s nomination and has raised about $178,000 so far, with just under $91,000 in cash on hand.
Hashmi led the final stretch of fundraising, bringing in over $700,000 between April 1 and June 5, according to her campaign.
Meanwhile, the Lateef campaign released internal polling this week showing him ahead among early in-person voters surveyed at 12 locations in Northern Virginia — though the campaign acknowledged the data wasn’t independently verified and included disclaimers about methodology.
The poll showed Lateef with 41% support, followed by Hashmi at 28%, Rouse at 16%, and Stoney at 14%. Salgado and Bastani were each under 2%.
Asked why they supported Lateef, 40% of respondents cited his opposition to casino expansion and predatory gambling, an issue that has become central to his platform.
Clean Virginia has also contributed $25,000 each to Hashmi and Rouse in the lieutenant governor’s race, while Dominion has supported Stoney with $125,000 and Lateef with $50,000, according to campaign finance disclosures.
