Shannon Taylor criticized for $650,000 Dominion Energy donations in attorney general race

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- Fourteen Virginia Democratic leaders have signed a letter calling for attorney general candidate Shannon Taylor to take action after ethical concerns were raised from her receiving more than half a million dollars in donations from Dominion Energy.

The letter lists specific ways in which the alleged $650,000 worth of donations are an ethical dilemma that would create a conflict of interest in the event of her being elected.

Specific concerns outlined in the letter include:

• The attorney general is responsible for overseeing Dominion Energy as a state-regulated utility
• Ethical standards prohibit conflicts of interest for local and state prosecutors
• The sheer size of the donation from one corporate entity is "unprecedented" in a Virginia attorney general race
• Even without actual impropriety, the appearance of impropriety could be damaging to the public trust

As a result of these concerns, the letter signees recommended the following points of action:

• Taylor should provide full transparency of all contributions from Dominion Energy
• Taylor should commit to recusing herself from any matters involving Dominion Energy if elected
• Taylor should provide a detailed public explanation for how she plans to maintain prosecutorial independence from Dominion Energy

The 14 signees were Democratic Virginia leaders at different levels of state government -- many of whom have endorsed Jay Jones' campaign.

8News reached out to Taylor's campaign for a response to the letter. A spokesperson shared the following statement:

“It is the height of hypocrisy to attack Shannon Taylor for accepting contributions from Dominion Energy when Jay Jones repeatedly accepted contributions from Dominion Energy and Dominion Energy lobbyists.

Jay Jones has never prosecuted a case and spent less than 10 months in the DC AGs office. Shannon spent 30 years prosecuting thousands of cases to protect Virginia families and hold fraudsters accountable. Shannon is the only Democrat who can be trusted to flip this seat and fight back against Donald Trump.” A spokesperson for attorney general candidate Shannon Taylor

During his campaign for the Virginia House of Delegates, Jones received $1,500 each from Dominion Energy lobbyists -- Carlos Brown in 2020 and 2021 and Edward Baine in 2021 and 2024. He also received $1,500 in donations from Dominion Energy directly in 2017 and 2018.

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8News reached out to a Dominion Energy spokesperson for comment, who shared this statement regarding these donations:

"Like most companies, we participate in the political process on behalf of our thousands of employees and millions of customers. They depend on us for reliable, affordable and increasingly clean energy. We contribute to candidates from both parties in support of common sense public policy." Spokesperson for Dominion Energy

8News reached out to Jay Jones' campaign for comment but has not yet received a response.

The Democratic Party candidate for the Virginia attorney general race will be decided in the Primary Election on June 17. For more information on the candidates and how to vote, click here.