A conversation with Clean Virginia’s executive director

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A conversation with Clean Virginia’s executive director

The clash between Clean Virginia and Dominion Energy was on full display in last week’s Democratic primaries — and Clean Virginia came out on top. I talked to Clean Virginia’s Executive Director Brennan Gilmore this morning about the elections, their mission, why he believes Dominion should not be allowed to donate to political candidates, what he would say to people who have concerns that Clean Virginia’s influence would replace Dominion’s, and a lot more. Listen to the conversation at the top of this newsletter.

Dominion Energy, the state’s largest public utility, is one of Virginia’s most prolific political donors, contributing to candidates in both parties. Clean Virginia, a rival donor group, says its mission is to promote clean government and clean energy — and backs only candidates who refuse contributions from Dominion.

In 2025, Clean Virginia contributed $957,543 directly to statewide candidates, including $200,000 to gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger and $757,543 to attorney general nominee Jay Jones. The group also gave an additional $50,000 — split evenly between state Sens. Ghazala Hashmi and Aaron Rouse — to their Senate campaign accounts. Both candidates later transferred the money to their lieutenant governor campaign accounts.

Dominion Energy donated $1.27 million to Democratic candidates in the statewide primaries this year. That includes $775,000 to Shannon Taylor’s attorney general campaign, $418,000 to Levar Stoney’s lieutenant governor campaign, and $75,000 to Babur Lateef’s campaign for the same office.

Hashmi secured the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor, while Jones won the nod for attorney general. With Spanberger unopposed for the gubernatorial nomination, Democrats head into the general election with a statewide ticket fully backed by Clean Virginia — and free of Dominion Energy’s money.

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