NEW HuffPost Report: Trump Political Team Running Virginia’s ‘No’ Campaign

NEW HuffPost Report: Trump Political Team Running Virginia’s ‘No’ Campaign

RICHMOND, Va. — A new report from HuffPost reveals that the campaign opposing Virginia’s Fair Elections Amendment is being run by senior operatives from Donald Trump’s political network — despite branding itself to voters as a grassroots, Virginia-based effort.

The report details how the group pushing a “No” vote is staffed and supported by figures directly tied to Trump’s national political operation and top Republican consulting firms — the same individuals who’ve helped prop up the president and support his unpopular agenda in Washington.

“This reporting confirms what many suspected: there is nothing ‘grassroots’ about the ‘No’ campaign,” said Dan Gottlieb, Communications Director for Virginians for Fair Elections. “It’s another national political operation controlled by Donald Trump, trying to interfere in a Virginia election while pretending to be a homegrown effort. They can claim they are for Virginians, but the fingerprints are straight out of Mar-a-Lago.”

Read more about the “No” campaign — and its direct ties to Donald Trump:

HuffPost: Trump-Tied GOP Forces Test Democrats In High-Stakes Virginia Vote

• Republican forces lining up against the referendum are more organized — and more closely tied to President Donald Trump’s political operation — than a California campaign that ran out of cash months early and led to bitter infighting.
• The GOP group pushing a no vote on the referendum, dubbed Virginians for Fair Maps, has extensive ties to Trump and FP1, the GOP consulting firm previously led by top Trump political aide Chris LaCivita.
• The endeavor is led by Michael Young, who was Trump’s state director for Virginia and North Carolina during the 2024 election and is a partner at FP1. The campaign manager, Finn Lee, was previously a director of “election integrity” at the Republican National Committee.
• The group’s state-registered lobbyist, Richard Cullen, is a partner at FP1’s public affairs arm.
• Both former Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares — who raised significant sums in a losing effort in the state’s 2025 general election — and former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor are helping to raise money for the Republican group.
• The Virginia General Assembly passed the referendum earlier this week that was crafted in response to Trump’s push to redraw lines in Republican-controlled states to eliminate Democratic seats.
• Virginians for Fair Maps did not return a request for comment.

For more information, visit www.virginiansforfairelections.com.

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About Virginians for Fair Elections

Virginians for Fair Elections is the campaign advocating for a constitutional amendment to protect fair representation and ensure Virginia voters — not politicians — have the final say over congressional district maps. The amendment is a temporary, emergency exception designed to level the playing field for Virginia’s congressional elections, with the Commonwealth’s bipartisan redistricting commission resuming full authority after the 2030 census.