Corporate Special Interests, Republican Megadonors Bankroll George Barker Campaign

From the Stella Pekarsky for VA Senate campaign:

Corporate Special Interests, Republican Megadonors Bankroll Barker Campaign

George Barker’s latest campaign finance report reveals a who’s who list of corporate special interests making life more expensive for everyday Virginians and pro-Youngkin Republican megadonors. To name a few:

Barker accepted $200,000 from Dominion Energy after voting to allow Dominion to overcharge ratepayers over $1.3 billion in energy bills. In 2020, Barker cast the deciding vote against the Fair Energy Bills Act, which would have returned millions to the pockets of working families paying power bills. Instead, Dominion pocketed excess profits and sent kickbacks to Barker. (This comes in addition to pro-Barker advertising from Dominion-funded Power for Tomorrow).

Barker’s largest individual donor, Dwight Schar, co-chaired a fundraiser for Donald Trump. Schar, a Washington Commanders co-owner, also gave thousands to Glenn Youngkin’s PAC and Ron DeSantis. Barker’s affinity for Republican money is a pattern. Barker has accepted dozens of donations from Youngkin donors; Stella Pekarsky hasn’t accepted a single one.

Barker took tens of thousands of dollars from health insurance interests who pose threats to quality, affordable healthcare in Virginia. This includes:

• Over $51,000 from the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association. VHHA’s largest donor, HCA, has supported agreements to prohibit doctors in their hospitals from performing elective abortions, paid professional union-busters $400 per hour, and failed to buy the necessary PPE for their essential worker. (Barker also took $2500 directly from HCA).
• $1,500 from PhRMA, a group lobbying to raise prescription drug costs for seniors.
• $2,500 from Molina Healthcare, a company that allowed unlicensed individuals to provide mental health care while fraudulently billing taxpayers for it.

In response, Stella Pekarsky (D-Centreville) issued the following statement:

“I am running because I have deep roots in my community and I hope to improve the lives of our families. My opponent seems to have deep roots in the pockets of corporate special interests. I’m not accepting donations from corporate special interests because I’m running to serve local residents, not lobbyists. I believe we need campaign finance reform because this amount of money in politics is excessive. Unfortunately, my opponent’s donations suggest that his priorities lie elsewhere.”

Stella Pekarsky is a mother of six, former teacher, first-generation immigrant, and small business owner. She has served on the Fairfax County School Board following her election in 2019 and is running as a Democrat to represent Virginia’s newly-drawn 36th State Senate District. To learn more about Stella, visit stellapekarsky.com.

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