With just over five weeks to go in the Virginia Democratic gubernatorial primary, things are starting to really heat up between Tom Perriello’s and Ralph Northam’s campaigns. First, if you haven’t watched it already, see the debate the other day in Roanoke, where Perriello and Northam clashed sharply on several topics (Dominion Power, proposed natural gas pipelines, community service – or not – in exchange for free community college, etc.). And now, check out the following response from the Perriello campaign to the Northam campaign’s campaign finance proposal, issued a bit earlier today, which I already posted here and am posting again in this diary, below the Perriello response. Good to see a serious, substantive debate on important issues; this is exactly what primaries are for, and we should all be glad to have them!
“Ralph Northam should put his money where his mouth is,” Sams said. “In his career, Northam has accepted more than $725,000 in campaign contributions from 132 corporations, so the question is simple: how much will Northam return or give away to meet his own standard of the ethics? Tom Perriello is the only candidate to call for publicly-financed elections and to boldly reject corporate contributions by refusing money from state-regulated monopolies like Dominion Power, which has given Northam more than $35,000 in this campaign alone. Until Northam makes the same pledge in his own campaign, his proposals are just talk.”
Other corporations that have donated to Northam and his PAC include:
HCA, $39,000
Verizon, $30,500
Norfolk Southern Corp, $26,050
Appalachian Power Co, $16,000
Alpha Natural Resources, $15,000
Newport News Shipbuilding, $13,000
Humana Inc, $11,750
Genworth Financial, $10,750
EQT Corp, $10,000
VA Natural Gas $9,300
Smithfield Foods, $8,500
Walmart Stores Inc, $7,500
Omega Protein, $6,500
Transurban USA Inc, $6,000
Universal Leaf Tobacco Co, $6,000
Comcast, $5,000
Kitco Fiber Optics Inc, $5,000
Lifepoint Hospitals Inc, $5,000
Pfizer Inc, $4,800
Breakthru Beverage Virginia, $4,750
Kemper Consulting Inc, $4,655
Capital One, $4,500
Dupont Fabros Technology,$4,500
Mednax Services Inc., $4,250
Marathon Development Group $3,500
7 Eleven Inc., $2,750
Columbia Gas of VA, $2,500
Micron Technology Inc., $2,500
MJ & N Enterprises, $2,500
Richmond International Raceway, $2,500
Swedish Match, $2,500
USAA, $2,500
GlaxoSmithKline, $2,250
Consol Energy Inc., $2,000
DIAGEO North America Inc., $2,000
Doctors Company, $2,000
National Vision Inc., $2,000
Republic National Distributing Co, $2,000
Republic Services, $1,950
Boehringer Ingelheim, $1,500
Colonna’s Shipyard Inc., $1,500
DaVita Inc., $1,500
Eagle Corp, $1,500
Orbital ATK, $1,500
S&M Brands Inc., $1,500
Walgreens Co, $1,500
Wawa Inc., $1,250
AOL Inc., $1,000
Bayview Plaza Pharmacy Inc., $1,000
Centurytel Inc., $1,000
CheckSmart Financial Co, $1,000
Citigroup, $1,000
Crofton Construction Services, $1,000
CSX Corp, $1,000
Health Diagnostic Laboratory Inc., $1,000
Hoffman Beverage Co, $1,000
LKQ Corp, $1,000
M Price Distributing Co, $1,000
Owens-Illinois Inc., $1,000
Salmons Inc., $1,000
Science Applications Intl Corp., $1,000
Waste Management Inc., $1,000
AT&T, $950
Bay Diesel Corp, $750
EPIC Pharmacies Inc., $750
Monsanto, $750
Ace Cash Express, $500
AEGIS Waste Solutions, $500
Drs Savage Sabol & Visser Ltd, $500
Imagine Learning Inc., $500
Medical Facilities of America, $500
Nationwide Insurance Co., $500
RK Chevrolet Buick, $500
Sabre Inc., $500
Southmoor Development Inc., $500
RELEASE: Lt. Governor Northam Announces Comprehensive Campaign Finance Reform Package
Richmond, Va. – Today, Ralph Northam announced a series of proposals to reform Virginia’s campaign finance system, including banning corporate contributions and capping contributions to candidates at $10,000 from all donors except political party committees.
This comes on top of his proposal for a DISCLOSE Act, which would require dark money groups, regardless of their tax status, to disclose their contributors if they spend money to influence Virginia’s elections.
The full set of proposed reforms include:
- Reforming Virginia’s redistricting laws, like Ralph Northam has been fighting to do for nearly a decade
- Banning contributions to candidates or committees from corporations and businesses
- Capping contributions at $10,000 from all donors except political party committees
- Mandating donor disclosure for nonprofits seeking to influence Virginia’s elections
- Banning personal use of campaign funds
- Supporting a federal constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United
Lt. Governor Northam released the following statement with regards to his proposed reforms:
“Virginia’s campaign finance system is a boondoggle that alienates its citizens and makes them lose faith in government. Virginians across every part of the political spectrum want a system that is more responsive to the people, and less reliant on big checks from a few donors. If we implement some commonsense reforms including a ban on corporate contributions and capping donations to candidates, I believe our state government can take a huge step forward in regaining the people’s trust and show Congress that it must move to end Citizens United.”
Lt. Governor Northam is proud to have received 45,000 individual contributions with 92% being $100 or less, and more than 85% of the total amount raised coming from Virginians.
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