Big Money Out VA
Big Money Out VA (styled BigMoneyOutVA) is a left-of-center Virginia advocacy group that campaigns for campaign finance restrictions, expanded election administration disclosure requirements, government financing of election campaigns, and amendments to the U.S. Constitution to reverse the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling in Citizens United v. FEC. The group operates as an all-volunteer, unincorporated organization with no identified IRS tax-exempt status and has disclosed no formal budget. It has aligned itself with other left-of-center elections-policy groups, including Common Cause, FairVote, and RepresentUs, in advocating that the Virginia General Assembly adopt restrictive campaign finance legislation and has championed additional left-of-center electoral changes, including ranked-choice voting and the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. 1 2 3 4
Contents
Background
Big Money Out VA has been active since at least 2020, when several current executive committee members joined the group. The group is headquartered at an Alexandria, Virginia address and does not appear to be a formally organized entity. 2 5
Virginia is one of five states that imposes no limits on state-level political contributions, and the group has used that distinction as a primary organizing premise, pointing to rising costs in Virginia legislative elections to argue for stricter regulation. 1
Activities
Big Money Out VA’s principal activity consists of advocacy before the Virginia General Assembly. Each legislative session, the group promotes a portfolio of campaign finance bills covering contribution limits, expanded disclosure of independent expenditures, restrictions on the personal use of campaign funds, and public financing of local elections. As of 2025, the group acknowledged that nearly every significant campaign finance bill it supported had been killed in the General Assembly. 4 1
The group has also expanded its legislative agenda to encompass ranked-choice voting and the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, measures that would alter the mechanics of elections beyond campaign finance, working alongside left-wing groups such as FairVote and RepresentUs on those priorities. 6 4
Virginia Democracy Day
Big Money Out VA has organized annual lobby days at the Virginia General Assembly, branded “Virginia Democracy Day,” in which coalition members and volunteers meet with legislators and hold press conferences to advance the group’s agenda. The January 2023 event featured representatives from Common Cause, FairVote, and RepresentUs, among others. 7
Local Government Resolutions
Unable to secure passage of state-level legislation, the group shifted in 2025 toward securing resolutions from local governing bodies. In June 2025, the Leesburg Town Council passed a resolution unanimously calling for campaign finance reform and an amendment to reverse Citizens United, a campaign organized in part by Big Money Out VA in coordination with the League of Women Voters and a group of local high school students. The Blacksburg Town Council followed in August 2025 with a nearly identical resolution. 8 9
Constitutional Amendment Campaign
In addition to state-level advocacy, Big Money Out VA has promoted the passage of a federal constitutional amendment that would allow the U.S. Congress and the states to regulate election spending, arguing an amendment is necessary to reverse the legal framework established by Citizens United v. FEC and related Supreme Court decisions. 2