When the votes are counted in Virginia after the November 7 off-cycle legislative elections, in a big way, it is a referendum on the political effectiveness of a mega-wealthy money manager who has devoted himself to Old Dominion politics—and who is not Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin.
Instead, that man is Micheal Bills, who has given more than $15 million in direct contributions to Democratic candidates, including X-rated cam-girl Susanna Gibson, the Democrat running to represent the Richmond suburbs from the seat belonging to House of Delegates’ 57th District.
The Clean Virginia Fund gave Gibson $234,000, her most significant contribution—followed by the $75,000 from Sonija Smith, the financier’s wife.
Bills and his Clean Virginia Fund were active in the June 20 Democratic primaries, backing 25 candidates, with 22 CVF-endorsed candidates winning their nomination, including Gibson.
According to a profile in The Washington Post, Gibson (pictured above) posted X-rated videos online, where she and her husband conducted intimate relationships, as Gibson interacted with viewers and asked them to send in money.
Republican David Owen is the practical nurse’s general election opponent.
This is not to suggest that Youngkin is sitting on the sidelines. The governor’s Spirit of Virginia fund has raised $12,268,783 this cycle, with $2 million from Wall Street trader Jeff Yass, $1 million from Hungarian-born billionaire Thomas Peterffy and $1,545,000 from the governor’s own checkbook.
Yougnkin and his allies are using Spirit of Virginia to plus-up the effort by Virginia Republicans to break the stranglehold Democrats have on the governor’s agenda by their control of the State Senate with a 22-18 edge. Republicans control the House of Delegates with a 52-48 majority. Both chambers are up this cycle.
If the governor achieved a so-called state government trifecta with control of both chambers and the governor’s office, two major opportunities present themselves. First, he has the potential to uncork his legislative program, blocked by State Senate Democrats. Second, he has the bragging rights and momentum to launch a post-gubernatorial career–maybe challenging U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) in 2024–or even challenging former President Donald J. Trump for the GOP presidential nomination the same year.
Bills Creates Clean Virginia Fund in 2018 to Dominion Energy
In 2018, Bills, the founder of the Charlottesville, Virginia-based Bluestem Asset Management, started the Clean Virginia Fund as a vehicle to counter the lobbying heft of Dominion Energy in the commonwealth.
In a 2019 profile, Bills told The Virginia Mercury the origin story:
He viewed Dominion and its influence over state lawmakers as bad for the environment and bad for customers. And after looking up how much they were spending on campaign contributions, he decided he couldn’t pass up the potential return that might flow from overtaking the company with an influence campaign of his own.
“I went, wait a minute, they literally are writing the laws for a couple million dollars a year in contributions and some lobbyists,” Bills said. “I can do that.”
And he did. The former Goldman Sachs executive is now the largest individual campaign donor in the state, with contributions totaling $1.7 million so far this year, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, which tracks money in politics. The recipients, 88 Democratic candidates and fundraising committees at last report, all have refused to take donations from Dominion — which he has made a condition of his support. The only groups that have spent more over the past two years are major party PACs: the House Democratic Caucus, the Democratic Party of Virginia and the Republican State Leadership Committee, according to VPAP.”
According to public filing as of September 15, the Clean Virginia Fund raised $17,722,545, with $17,425,000 donated by Bills going back to the fund’s 2018 founding.
In this cycle, the fund raised nearly $7 million, with just more than that amount going to Democratic candidates.
While Bills has been stroking checks, his nemesis, Dominion Energy, has not been idle.
Dominion has spent more than $15 million this cycle, roughly twice Bills outlay. However, because Dominion is bipartisan in its largesse, combined with Bills, the energy giant is, in effect, putting its thumb on the scale for Democrats.
– – –
Neil W. McCabe is a staff reporter for The Virginia Star.
Photo “Susanna Gibson” by Susanna Gibson.
