Glenn Youngkin
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin

 

If you’re a gun owner who lives in Virginia, there’s a good chance you’ve seen ads that raise questions about Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin’s support for gun rights. An operation called Accountability Virginia is running tens of thousands of dollars in ads designed to keep Old Dominion gun owners from voting in the increasingly tight race for governor on November 2.

Youngkin has been narrowing the lead of former Democrat Governor Terry McAuliffe, who’s running for a second term. Some polls now have Youngkin with a slight lead. The oleaginous McAuliffe is a big supporter of current Governor Ralph “Coonman” Northam’s efforts to roll back gun rights in the state. In fact, he’d like to accomplish what Governor Blackface couldn’t and outlaw “assault weapons” … one way or another.

Youngkin has taken a cagy approach to the issue of guns during the campaign. In fact, he’s mostly avoided the subject. He hasn’t made much of an issue of Northam’s many attacks on gun rights or McAuliffe’s avowedly anti-gun positions. And in a clearly strategic move, he declined to complete the NRA’s candidate questionnaire, so he didn’t get the Virginia-based organization’s endorsement.

The Youngkin campaign has apparently made the calculation that, in a purple-trending-blue state, keeping the candidate’s stance on gun rights below the radar and foregoing the increasingly toxic NRA’s endorsement will probably hurt him less among the state’s gun owners than it will help him with (or at least not antagonize) northern Virginia suburban voters. Whether or not that strategy works will be revealed in two weeks.

Terry McAuliffe
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

In the mean time, Dominion Energy, one of the biggest utilities in the state, is funding attack ads intended to raise doubts in gun owners’ minds about Youngkin and, they no doubt hope, keep them away from the polls next month.

Dominion Energy Logo

As Stephen Gutowski is reporting, Dominion is using its political action committee to fund Accountability Virginia’s attack ads.

One Facebook ad reads, “While the NRA backs Donald Trump, they REFUSED to endorse Glenn Youngkin. We can’t trust Glenn Youngkin on guns. Youngkin should tell us the truth about where he stands.”

The ads are a clear attempt to discourage and suppress gun voter turnout…and tip the close race to McAuliffe. Worse, lots of Virginia gun owners are involuntarily paying for the campaign.

Richmond-based Dominion Energy provides power to about 2.5 million homes in the state. That means a piece of every monthly bill payment is going to fund Dominion’s efforts to install yet another gun-grabbing politician in the governor’s mansion. How great is that?

 

UPDATE: Dominion Energy apparently isn’t happy with all of the publicity that’s resulted from their contributions to suppressing gun owners’ votes in Virginia. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the company announced today that it didn’t go a good job vetting the secretive political action committee, Accountability Virginia, that ran the ads described above they the company is now asking for its contributions (totaling $200,000) back.

Dominion Energy’s CEO sent an email to company employees Monday morning saying the company’s political action committee had failed to properly vet an anti-Glenn Youngkin PAC it gave large donations to, and is asking for its money back.

So it was all just an unfortunate misunderstanding. An administrative screw-up.

[CEO Robert M.] Blue told employees the company has a long history of transparent and bipartisan political giving.
 
“This weekend we were reminded that going above and beyond in transparency is necessary but not sufficient. Based on our own disclosures, two news stories highlighted activities of the Accountability Virginia PAC that we would not approve or knowingly support,” he wrote.

“Although familiar with the Accountability Virginia PAC sponsors, we failed to vet sufficiently the scope of their intended activities. In as much, we have asked that our contributions be returned.

Oopsie! It seems Virginia’s political climate got a little too hot for Dominion, what with national attention being drawn to the famously corrupt McAuliffe and the unwelcome exposure of the secretive support provided to him via the utility’s cash contributions.

 

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40 COMMENTS

  2. Hmm. The very word “Dominion” in any company’s name is proving to be a detriment more than a benefit.

    Just like the name “Brandon” seems to be taking on a life of its own.

  3. What Dominion is doing, doesn’t differ much from what FAKEBOOK, or AMAZON, or other monopoly’s did or are still doing to control the uneducated, now does it…?
    FREE KYLE

    • The politically inept history illiterate Republican Glenn Youngkin is ahead by a hair only because his opponent is a Rat. And I would be surprised if the sneaky Gun Control Rat McAuliffe has not or will not put the Second Amendment illiterate Youngkin behind the Gun Control Eight Ball in an ad or a debate.

      Instead of taking Ralph Northam’s Bigoted Blackface and plastering it on Terry McAuliffe’s backside via a TV ad depicting the racist genocide history of Gun Control the milquetoast Glenn Youngkin is a sitting duck for a pompous Gun Control Rat like McAuliffe. McAuliffe is just another Rat who goes marching around with his Gun Control thinking he has the moral high ground. McAuliffe needs to be told to shut up and explain to voters why he supports an agenda rooted in racism and genocide.

      In other words Glenn Youngkin your gutless behind needs to man up and grow a pair fast and open your piehole and stop the Second Amendment from being lynched by another worthless Gun Control sick ratbassturd.

      But I’m not done yet…The Utility Ads in question are the result of people seeing politically inept thinned skinned gun owners tripping over each other to throw POTUS DJT under the bus over bump stocks. Tripping over each other to “Get Trump” without getting the facts about what could have been done to their rights had a knee jerk congress took the reins.

      And add to it the Utility seeing thinned skinned gun owners tripping over each other to throw the entire NRA overboard because of the actions of a handful of blindly trusted bad apples. Obviously the Utility Ad is intended to sway politically inept thinned skinned knee jerk gun owners to stay home on election day and pout.

  4. Youngkin hasn’t proposed or advocated any gun rights suppression. Meanwhile, eternal gun rights supporter McAullife is calling for assault weapon bans and extended background checks.

  5. Staying silent on an issue to win support seems like a long-term losing move. Regardless of how large a silent majority may be as long as it’s silent it’ll be doing whatever the vocal group dictates. Kinda like how our nation is being run off a cliff by a handful or short bus passengers because if you say anything those special kids will call you names on the Internet.

    Clown world ain’t got nothin’ on this world.

  6. HOW can a publically supported company come ut endorsing one candidate, and’or support/be agasint any political position? Seems any public mioney MUST be spent on eutral things. Taking sides on everyone’s buck? Not good

    • The same way churches are openly (and illegally) endorsing AND campaigning for McAuliffe… What Constitution? The Ho actually made the rounds in Northern VA “black” churches Sun to speak for the Kommie asshole…

      • @MADD,

        There is no law against churches endorsing candidates. They simply risk losing tax exemption status from the IRS if they choose to do so.

        • WOW, really?… That’s THE point… It is a violation of Federal Law for a “TAX EXEMPT” church to endorse or actively campaign for a political cadidate… But I REALLY appreciate your input…

  7. Why does an energy company have a political action committee, and how is it legal to use customer fees to pay for it?

  8. As a proud 2A supporter, I can understand Youngkin’s reluctance to expound on Gun Rights in this race. However with the backing McCauliff gets I would crawl across broken glass to vote against Tyrant Terry! I Know for a fact he is for firearms confiscation, ammo tax and magazine restrictions, so this is a campaign to stop Terry!

  9. We can’t trust Glenn Youngkin on guns.

    But we know for a FACT that McAuliffe WILL double down on “Coonmans” gun grab AND will be an “all in” supporter of Braindeads Kommie agenda… Four more years of the far Left leading Virginia and the “Old Dominion” will look like a “New” NYC…

  10. THIS is not keeping anyone from voting! That is absurd!

    This is people having poorly run campaigns. We have all seen for ourselves how Facebook works against Americans and for fascists. Why hinge so much on them? For younger voters? People more likely to vote D anyway? We are talking about a group of people that wants the Republican Party dissolved.

    I see NOTHING here suppressing voter turnout or a vote for any particular person. Claiming this is that sounds just like the Dems saying “Trump got caught” but never actually telling us what he got doing (except maybe his job).

    • “I see NOTHING here suppressing voter turnout”

      If one thinks that gun owners are all single issue (2A) voters, then throwing doubt on the values of candidate wanting to represent gun owners, the ads are designed to create such doubt, that 2A voters will just stay home. In a really tight, even a hand full of 2A voters refusing to vote can tip the balance. Such a campaign strategy is actually a form of voter suppression, but not physical intimidation type suppression.

      • What your describing is a complacent voter with a weak vote. Someone easily discouraged and willing give up on their 2A rights based on nothing. I suspect that it is the weak minds out there that Facebook attracts in the first place.

        There is nothing in that that actually prevents someone from voting. This IS someone stopping themselves from voting looking for any excuse.

        • “There is nothing in that that actually prevents…”

          American english is sloppy. In the instant case “prevent” is used in place of “discourage”. “Your candidate doesn’t have your level of concern about the Second Amendment, so there is no reason to vote for that person at all; stay home”. (this is Alinsky rule #4)

          There are exceedingly few 2A voters who will refuse to vote, or vote the opposition, simply because a candidate is weak on 2A, but possibly perfect on every other issue of interest to that voter.

          The problem with single issue voting is that it demands perfection in execution on the part of the candidate (and of the potential voter). Few like to face it, but “I believe in the Second Amendment, but…” covers just about everyone who takes a position on the Second Amendment. Even those who think of themselves as rabidly protective of the Second Amendment have their own ideas of “common sense gun control”.

          If any person identifies any condition for controlling who has a right to KBA, then they are simply declaring that their exceptions are righteous, while the exception others want to make are not to be tolerated. “Common sense” is an opinion, and opinions are like….

          How does one decide which candidate is “weak” on the Second Amendment? How many “common sense” exceptions are acceptable, and still judge a candidate as “strong” on the Second Amendment.

    • What this is about is a public utility, a regulated industry which answers to the state government, choosing sides in a political debate. Customers of Dominion (named after Virginia’s nickname The Old Dominion) have no choice, short of going off the grid. They pay money to Dominion for power, and then to have that money work against their interests? NO. The best thing we can do is shine a spotlight on this and embarrass them into recanting. And whether they do or not, elect Jason Miyares, who as AG *SHOULD* bring whatever charges are relevant against Dominion and the Loudon County School Board. They know they are protected as long as Mark Herring is AG. I don’t care what effect this has on the election. I’m sure there are already dozens of “legal analyses” on the MSM talking about how this is aboveboard in the most technical sense. No. None of my dollars will go to curtailing my liberties.

      Also, I am heartened that you Youngkin-skeptics are not withholding your vote from him. Your logic is sound — he may not be Charlton Heston, but we know exactly what McAuliffe has tried to do and will do again. If he wins, there WILL BE an “assault weapons” ban and magazine capacity limits. And who knows what else. Everyone vote! Sic Semper Tyrannis!

  11. Virginia churches air Kamala Harris endorsement of Terry McAuliffe in apparent violation of federal law

    Vice President Kamala Harris is being accused of helping Virginia churches break federal law prohibiting tax-exempt churches from engaging in overt political activity.

    What is Harris doing?
    More than 300 “black churches” across Virginia will reportedly view a pre-recorded message from Harris over the next several weeks urging them to vote for Democrat Terry McAuliffe in the upcoming Virginia gubernatorial election.

    According to CNN reporter Eva McKend, the message began airing Sunday and will continue to be broadcast through Nov. 2nd The message “will air during morning services as part of an outreach effort aimed to boost @TerryMcAuliffe,” McKend reported

  12. As an owner of a lot of transformers hanging around Virginia, Dominion would be wise not to anger gun owners.

  13. His ‘calculated move’ to not talk about gun rights was a miscalculation. He needs all the people who got their counties to go ‘sanctuary county’ two years ago, to be out voting for him, not wondering what his position on gun rights is.

    • His ‘calculated move’ to not talk about gun rights was a miscalculation.

      Maybe he’s thinking that all of those pissed off parents of school aged kids in Northern VA will be looking at the alternative to McAuliffes “parents should not be telling schools how/what to teach” bullshit… Northern VA aka the DC suburbs decides State-wide elections, don’t play their game, don’t get the job… Republican voters have been falling for the Democrat “bait and switch” for decades now we’ll see if the Left leaning voters of VA are just as gullible…

    • Draven, we *are* going to be out voting for him, because the choice is clear. McAuliffe has nothing but contempt for us. I am disappointed Youngkin did not answer the VCDL survey (and therefore we can’t endorse him), but **don’t fall for the Democrats’ game**! The fact they’re trying to get gun owners to stay home is proof positive we need to vote and vote (R)!

  14. And I’ll say it again, unlimited funds, rabid anti-gunners, and corrupt politicians willing to accept both will result in another fraudulent election! Prove me wrong!!

  17. Well according to Libertarians large multi-billion dollar companies have every right to stop you from communicating with your family, friends, or your customers. These private business billionaires have the right to destroy your small family business according to Libertarians.

    In fact according to the Libertarians a billion dollar private company can change their business agreements and not tell you in advance. They can promise you a great business deal. And years later the Libertarians are ok with the company stabbing you in the back and twisting the knife. They said it was ok for the Tech Companies to do it.

    Private multi-million dollar companies donated money to help pass drug legalization. And the Libertarians celebrated this.
    The problem with the sexually liberated is they don’t understand that morality has very little to do with sexual activity.

    “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

    John Adams

  18. What kind of mental gymnastics did you have to contort yourself into to determine that voter suppression was at play here? All they did was ask a question about where he stands, if anything it might be pushing people towards the Democrat candidate but there’s nothing about voter suppression.

  19. The only thing worse than a democrat that follows the party line on gun confiscation is a Republican who shows his true colors about the “little” people having firearms. They are controlled by the NWO. Vote 3rd party. I bet there is a third party candidate that is running on a 2nd amendment platform.
    That 3rd party candidate probably will not win, but every vote he gets will show the GOP that we will never support any candidate that is not for the 2nd.
    God help this country if the Corpracrats get into power.

  20. We definitely cannot trust any candidate that crafts a public position on an issue to hide his actual stances on the specifics for political gain. Therefore Youngkin cannot be trusted on guns. But McAuliffe is a well-known piece of slime, his anti-gun rights views being only the first reason why he should not be governor.

    As far as the NRA goes, I agree with their position on Youngkin, whose cagey tactic of hiding his views by not completing and returning the standard NRA questionnaire, as though it were trying to trip him up by making him clearly declare his positions, is really repugnant to me.

    As for the NRA being toxic, I don’t know about that. Maybe among a certain globalist set it is—but then those people would think the same about any gun rights organization, and NRA is just the most prominent. Giving in to their slander only helps them achieve their purpose of eliminating any group that effectively counters the Left over the long term. There have been some possibly questionable accounting practices at the NRA in the recent past however that doesn’t mean we should let the dictatorial and dullard NYAG use that as an excuse to destroy it. The NRA is a very effective advocate for gun rights; don’t kid yourselves that eliminating it and replacing it with some organization more amenable to the Left will help the cause of gun rights. The NRA is the nation’s oldest civil rights organization, but it is much more than that: it has excellent programs for new shooters, including kids; for promoting and instituting a safe gun culture; for drafting model legislation and advancing gun rights laws in the states and federal levels; in helping to identify political candidates (as here) who are for and against gun rights; in running range programs, training programs; contests and competitions, etc. The idea that all it does is fat cat lobbying is ludicrous FUD from its opponents and their Alinskyite methods.

  21. When McAuliffe was the VA governor he restored the voting rights of convicted felons, most of who were black. But he also made sure to not include restoring their second amendment civil rights. So he made sure they could vote democrat. But he and the democrats have always worked to disarm black people. And keep them disarmed.

  23. “Lights out.”

    The giant chicken heart is in your city. It’s in your neighborhood. It’s on your block. It’s in your house…..
    (thump thump. thump thump. thump thump….)

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