A Republican senator is probing Virginia’s public utility Dominion Energy for more information on its massive spending aimed at suppressing the vote for Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), in a letter to Dominion chief executive officer Robert Blue, asked the company to disclose whether Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe was aware of the $250,000 it spent on his behalf, and whether anything was promised in return for the spending blitz. The cash from Dominion, which is the only option for most Virginia residents, was used on an ad campaign to convince likely Republican voters to stay home because Youngkin wasn't strong enough on the Second Amendment, according to a report from Axios.
Cotton called it "likely the first time a public utility has spent ratepayers' money to suppress voting."
Dominion apologized after the spending effort was revealed by Axios and said it asked Accountability Virginia PAC, the liberal group that sent the mailers for Dominion, for a refund.
The public utility has received harsh criticism from Virginians for its monopoly over energy in the commonwealth. McAuliffe, in fact, has disavowed the energy giant and said his campaign won't accept its donations. Dominion's political team worked around the ban by funding Accountability Virginia PAC's voter suppression project instead.
Dominion did not send a response to Cotton's questions, the senator's office told the Washington Free Beacon.