RICHMOND 鈥 Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, led all lieutenant governor candidates in fundraising during the final reporting period before Virginia鈥檚 June 17 primary, as six Democrats compete for the lieutenant governor nomination to face Republican John Reid.
Hashmi raised $742,841 from April 1 to June 5, according to the . Campaign finance reports published Tuesday show that former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney came in next at $702,234 followed by Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, who raised $660,180.
Prince William County School Board Chair Babur Lateef raised $374,463 and former federal prosecutor Victor Salgado raised $16,772. Labor leader Alex Bastani gave himself $139,750 and raised an additional $2,270. Reid, the Republican nominee who will face off against whoever wins the Democratic primary, raised $133,768 in the reporting period.
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Hashmi鈥檚 largest donation, $100,000, came from Sonjia Smith, a prominent Democratic donor who is married to but donates independently from Michael Bills, the founder of Clean Virginia, a group that fights against Dominion Energy鈥檚 influence in state politics.
Hashmi鈥檚 second largest cash donation was $50,000 from Comstock Holdings, a prominent player in the push for a casino in Fairfax County鈥檚 Tysons Corner. She received more than $85,000 in in-kind contributions 鈥 services, not cash 鈥 from the Vote Pro Choice PAC, an abortion rights group.
Stoney鈥檚 largest donor is Dominion Energy, which gave his campaign $225,000 in the reporting period. The energy giant also donated $125,000 on Monday, after the latest report period ended, .
Rouse鈥檚 largest donor, which gave $100,000, was Greater PA Carpenters, a group associated with a large labor union representing carpenters in the Eastern Atlantic region. He also received more than $100,000 in total from gambling-related groups including $25,000 from a Petersburg casino, $25,000 from Comstock Holdings and $20,000 from Republic Amusements.
Among other donations of note, Rouse received $25,000 from singer and songwriter Pharrell Williams, who was born in Virginia Beach.
Lateef鈥檚 largest donor was Dominion, which gave him $75,000. His second largest contribution was from Prince William County developer Jefferey Mulhausen.
Salgado does not accept donations from corporations, so all of his contributions are from individuals, notably including $1,000 from former Del. Dawn Adams, D-Richmond.
On the Republican side, Reid鈥檚 largest donation was $8,784 from Eleina Espigh, a parents鈥 rights activist who lost a bid for the Henrico School Board in 2023. He also received $5,000 from former Henrico state Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant.
Hashmi also had the most cash on hand as of June 5, with $461,729. Rouse was second with $452,041.
Attorney General race
In the attorney general race, Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares outraised his two Democratic opponents, raising $1.2 million, with $300,000 coming from Dominion Energy.
Henrico Commonwealth鈥檚 Attorney Shannon Taylor, who is vying with former Del. Jay Jones, D-Norfolk, for the Democratic nomination, raised a little over $1 million, with more than half coming from Dominion.
Jones raised $933,701, with the largest donation of $178,650 coming from Clean Virginia, a nonprofit that advocates against Dominion鈥檚 financial influence in politics.
Taylor鈥檚 acceptance of large amounts of money from Dominion has been a flashpoint in the primary. On Monday, a Virginia congressman and 11 current Democratic legislators calling on Taylor to address what they call 鈥渟erious ethical concerns鈥 over the roughly $650,000 her campaign has received from Dominion Energy so far. Clean Virginia last week attacking Taylor for her Dominion contributions.
Miyares, who does not face a primary challenge, had $2.3 million in cash on hand as of June 5, to $492,757 for Jones and $419,816 for Taylor.
