Clean Virginia is a left-of-center environmentalist group. The group and its founder, Michael Bills, have become one of the largest political donors in Virginia. ¹ The group opposed Dominion Energy, the state-regulated utility that provides electricity to most Virginia households. The founder of the group saw the influence of Dominion as bad for the environment and consumers. ²

The Democratic Senate Majority Leader-designate accused Clean Virginia of engaging in a quid pro quo during the leadership elections for the Democratic caucus in the Virginia legislature in 2019. It allegedly pressured legislators it supported to vote against a candidate for speaker because she accepted donations from Dominion. ³

Background

Millionaire investor Michael Bills claimed he founded Clean Virginia in 2018 to oppose the influence of Dominion Energy and other regulated energy monopolies on Virginia politics. It claimed that Dominion Energy costs Virginians millions of dollars and leads to a dirtier environment. ⁴

The group donated to mostly Democratic candidates running in Virginia. In exchange for Clean Virginia’s support, the candidates pledged not to accept donations from Dominion Energy. ¹

The group had an affiliated political action committee (PAC), Clean Virginia Fund. ⁵

Issue Stances

Clean Virginia supported a ban on donations from state regulated utilities and joined a coalition of groups that supported the breakup of monopoly utilities by allowing competition among energy providers. ¹

It supported abandoning reliable conventional energy in favor of weather-dependent and intermittent sources of energy such as solar and wind. It supported the enactment of the Virginia Clean Economy Act in 2020 which required Dominion Energy and Appalachian Electric Power to generate power using 100% weather-dependent sources of energy by 2040 and 2050 respectively. ⁶

Election Donations

2019 Elections

Clean Virginia helped Michael Bills become the largest single individual donor in the 2019 Virginia legislative elections. Only party PACs spent more than Bills and Clean Virginia. ¹

Clean Virginia gave to 88 Democratic candidates and committees with the condition that they rejected donations from Dominion Energy. ¹

Clean Virginia drew criticism from Republican state Senator David Suetterlein (R-Roanoke County) for endorsing his Democratic opponent despite the fact that Suetterlein was one of the few Republican legislators who frequently voted against Dominion Energy. Suetterlein accused Bills and Clean Virginia as being more interested in building a Democratic majority than countering utility influence. Clean Virginia claimed their endorsements are the result of a candidate questionnaire, which Suetterlein did not fill out. ¹

Clean Virginia ultimately donated $5,000 to one Republican candidate in the 2019 election cycle, Senator Amanda Chase (R-Chesterfield). The group claimed it was not endorsing Chase, just giving her money for completing the questionnaire. ¹

Clean Virginia and Bills donated $2 million to help Democrats win the majority in the Virginia legislature. ⁷

2021 Elections

Clean Virginia endorsed more left-of-center candidates in the Democratic primaries in the 2021 Virginia state elections. In addition to backing more left-of-center candidates, it gave $925,000 to the left-of-center PAC Commonwealth Forward. ⁵

2023 Elections

As of September 2023, Clean Virginia spent $4 million, with 95 percent going to Democrats or left-of-center political groups. ⁶

Clean Virginia was the top contributor to controversial Democratic House of Delegates candidate Susanna Gibson, donating $46,000. Gibson reportedly live-streamed herself engaging in intimate acts with her husband on a porn website. ⁸

Criticisms

Quid-Pro-Quo Allegations

In 2019, Virginia Senate Majority Leader-designate Dick Saslaw (D-Fairfax) accused Clean Virginia and Michael Bills of pressuring candidates they funded to oppose the election of Delegate Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax Station) as state House Speaker because she accepted donations from Dominion Energy. Saslaw accused Clean Virginia representatives of calling delegates to vote against Filler-Corn. Clean Virginia denied the allegations and accused Dominion Energy of lying about it. ³

In 2019, the Democratic Party of Virginia voted to stop accepting donations from Dominion Energy. Bills donated $200,000 to the party after its decision. ⁹

Dark Money Allegations

In 2021, the Virginia House Democratic Caucus paid for ads on behalf of Delegate Candi King (D-Prince William) which indirectly portrayed Clean Virginia as being funded by “dark money billionaires.” It also attacked Clean Virginia for supporting state Senator Amanda Chase (R-Chesterfield), whom Clean Virginia later distanced itself from due to Chase’s “dangerous and divisive” rhetoric on race. ¹⁰

Leadership

Michael Bills is the Clean Virginia founder and chairman of the board. He is the founder and chief investment officer of Bluestem Asset Management LLC and was the former chief investment officer of the University of Virginia’s endowment. He is the co-founder of the Sorensen Institute of Political Leadership and the news outlet Charlottesville Tomorrow. He graduated Hampton High School and the University of Virginia. ¹¹

Brennan Gilmore is the executive director. He previously worked as the chief of staff for former U.S. Representative and Virginia gubernatorial candidate Tom Perriello (D). Before that, he worked in the U.S. Foreign Service. ¹²

Finances

According to its 2021 tax return, Clean Virginia raised $1,734,145, spent $1,367,344, and had $1,158,208 in assets. ¹³

Michael Bills is the principal donor to Clean Virginia. ⁴

1. Oliver, Ned. “A Multi-Millionaire Set out to Counter Dominion. Now He’s the State’s Biggest Campaign Donor.” Virginia Mercury, October 21, 2019. https://www.virginiamercury.com/2019/10/21/a-multi-millionaire-set-out-to-counter-dominion-now-hes-the-states-biggest-campaign-donor/.
2. “Founder’s Statement.” Clean Virginia. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://www.cleanvirginia.org/about/founders-statement/.
3. Scher, Brent. “Dem Donor Michael Bills Accused of ‘quid pro Quo’ in Virginia.” Washington Free Beacon, November 19, 2019. https://freebeacon.com/politics/dem-donor-michael-bills-accused-of-quid-pro-quo-in-virginia/.
4. [1]“Founder’s Statement.” Clean Virginia. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://www.cleanvirginia.org/about/founders-statement/.
5. Szymanski, Joe. “Sonjia Smith and Michael Bills: The New Kingmakers of the Virginia Democratic Party?” Elections Daily, June 3, 2021. https://elections-daily.com/2021/06/03/sonjia-smith-and-michael-bills-the-new-kingmakers-of-the-virginia-democratic-party/amp/.
6.  Ludwig, Hayden. “Goldman Sachs Millionaire Bankrolling Virginia’s Democrats.” Real Clear Politics, September 22, 2023. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2023/09/22/goldman_sachs_millionaire_bankrolling_virginias_democrats_149789.html#!
7. Cheslow, Daniella. “Environmental Groups Were Top Donors in Virginia’s Elections. Now, They Want Results.” NPR, November 26, 2019. https://www.npr.org/local/305/2019/11/26/782929103/environmental-groups-were-top-donors-in-virginia-s-elections-now-they-want-results.
8. [1]Ludwig, Hayden. “Goldman Sachs Millionaire Bankrolling Virginia’s Democrats.” Real Clear Politics, September 22, 2023. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2023/09/22/goldman_sachs_millionaire_bankrolling_virginias_democrats_149789.html#!
9. [1]Scher, Brent. “Dem Donor Michael Bills Accused of ‘quid pro Quo’ in Virginia.” Washington Free Beacon, November 19, 2019. https://freebeacon.com/politics/dem-donor-michael-bills-accused-of-quid-pro-quo-in-virginia/.
10. Moomaw, Graham. “Va.. House Democratic Caucus Oks Mailers Portraying Top Democratic Donors as ‘Dark Money Billionaires.’” Across Virginia, VA Patch, May 27, 2021. https://patch.com/virginia/across-va/va-house-democratic-caucus-oks-mailers-portraying-top-democratic-donors-dark.
11. “Michael Bills.” Clean Virginia. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://www.cleanvirginia.org/michael-bills/.
12. “Brennan Gilmore.” Clean Virginia. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://www.cleanvirginia.org/brennan-gilmore/.
13. [1] “Clean Virginia, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed October 1, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/825454983/202223199349324707/full.