Democrat Terry McAuliffe attended a fundraiser last Tuesday at the Richmond home of a registered lobbyist whose clients include groups pushing policies McAuliffe may advance if elected governor.
The measures include subsidies for the film industry, which McAuliffe has supported in the past, and a push to continue Virginia’s moratorium on uranium mining.
McAuliffe, the Democratic nominee for Virginia governor, has pledged to reform state ethics laws to restrict the value of gifts that governors and state legislators can accept. He has also pledged to refuse contributions from registered federal lobbyists but has made no such promise with respect to lobbyists in the Commonwealth.
McAuliffe’s good government message could be muddied by news that May Fox, a registered Virginia lobbyist, held a fundraiser for McAuliffe at her home on Tuesday.
The fundraiser was billed on McAuliffe’s website as an event with Eckert Seamans, Fox’s lobbying firm.
McAuliffe has previously backed policies supported by at least two Eckert clients.
The firm currently represents a group called the Virginia Coalition, which describes itself as "a diverse group of current Southside Virginia job creators" who are concerned about "the health implications of uranium mining."
Virginia officials are expected to decide in 2014 whether to lift a moratorium on uranium mining in the state.
McAuliffe told Virginia Coalition executive director Andrew Lester at a recent meeting with state environmentalists that he is "against this thing," referring to efforts to lift the ban on uranium mining.
"I’ll tell you right off the bat you don’t have to worry about me," McAuliffe said, according to Lester.
The Virginia Coalition is not the only Eckert Seamans client whose interests McAuliffe may advance if elected.
McAuliffe pledged to create new state incentives to encourage filmmakers to undertake projects in Virginia during his unsuccessful 2009 run for governor. He proposed reimbursing filmmakers for payroll costs and creating a new cash grant program to lure the motion picture industry to the Commonwealth.
One of the groups pushing for these and other incentives for the film industry in the state is the Virginia Production Alliance (VPA), which is another Eckert Seamans client.
VPA members met with McAuliffe in March "to share views and to discuss the importance of the [film] industry to the Commonwealth," according to a LinkedIn post from VPA spokeswoman Jennifer Pullinger.
Eckert "was certainly involved" in arranging the meeting, VPA spokesman Terry Stroud told the Washington Free Beacon, though he said VPA handled most of the logistics.
Stroud said states are in an "incentive war" to attract the film industry. "You’ve got to have a good incentive package" to attract filmmakers to a state, he said.
VPA members did not discuss specific policy proposals during the meeting with McAuliffe, Stroud said. It was "all about the education process"
McAuliffe has pledged to issue an executive order prohibiting the governor, the lieutenant governor, and their families from accepting gifts worth $100 or more from a single source if elected.
He has also said he will propose legislation to enact the same restrictions on members of the state legislature.
Neither Fox nor the McAuliffe campaign responded to requests for comment.
Update, 9:50 PM June 3: While McAuliffe has on occasion declined contributions from federal lobbyists, it is not the policy of the campaign to refuse such contributions.