With 1 Week Until the Virginia Dem AG Primary, Jay Jones’ Allies Send Letter to Shannon Taylor Expressing “Serious Concerns” Over Dominion Energy Contributions; Taylor’s Campaign Says “Jones repeatedly accepted contributions from Dominion Energy and Dominion Energy lobbyists”

With just a week to go until the Virginia Democratic Attorney General primary, the two candidates – Jay Jones and Shannon Taylor have VERY diferent views on accepting campaign contributions from Dominion Energy. See below for a letter, which came out yesterday, signed by several elected officials and former elected officials, demanding that Shannon Taylor provide “immediate disclosure” of all contributions from Dominion Energy, as well as a “recusal commitment” and “public explanation” about “how you plan to maintain prosecutorial independence despite this signifcant financial relationship.”

In response, the Taylor campaign just issued a statement this morning (see below), saying that ““It is the height of hypocrisy to attack Shannon Taylor for accepting contributions from Dominion Energy when Jay Jones repeatedly accepted contributions from Dominion Energy and Dominion Energy lobbyists.” and also “Jay Jones has never prosecuted a case and spent less than 10 months in the DC AGs office.”

So…serious issues, we’ll see what voters think of them. Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to this primary being over, so we can all focus on beating Jason Miyares. I’m also looking forward to the day when we have a serious campaign finance system in Virginia, in which there are reasonable limits on contributions from corporations (including state-regulated monopolies like Dominon Energy) and also from individuals (how about the same limits as for federal campaigns?). Because right now, Virginia’s campaign finance system is a really bad joke, the “wild west,” etc. – and yet we never seem to see significant change for the better…sigh.

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Statement from the Shannon Taylor for AG campaign.

“It is the height of hypocrisy to attack Shannon Taylor for accepting contributions from Dominion Energy when Jay Jones repeatedly accepted contributions from Dominion Energy and Dominion Energy lobbyists.

Jay Jones has never prosecuted a case and spent less than 10 months in the DC AGs office. Shannon spent 30 years prosecuting thousands of cases to protect Virginia families and hold fraudsters accountable.

And just like Attorney General Mark Herring and Governor Ralph Northam, Leader Don Scott, and Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas, who have accepted contributions from Dominion Energy, Shannon will always fight to do what is best for Virginia families.” — Emma Gore, Campaign Manager for Shannon Taylor

Letter to Shannon Taylor from several elected officials and former elected officials.