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Dominion Leadership Trust is a political action committee founded in 2002 by Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates Bill Howell (R). Its main purpose is to support Republican candidates for and members of the House. In 2010, it also registered as a federal PAC to support Republican candidates on a national level.[1]
Background
The Dominion Leadership Trust was formed in 2003 by Bill Howell, the speaker of the house in the Virginia House of Delegates. Howell formed the PAC as a method of supporting Republican candidates for Virginia's House, and the organization's website claims that the PAC was partially responsible for "the six-seat increase in the Majority Caucus in the 2009 elections." The Dominion Leadership Trust formed a federal PAC in 2010 as a way to support Republican candidates for the U.S. House and U.S. Senate from Virginia. At the time the federal PAC was formed, both U.S. Senators from Virginia were Democrats as were six of the state's 11 representatives.[1]
In June 2015, the Daily Press reported that many then-current legislators donated to the Dominion Leadership Trust ahead of being assigned to new committees or committee chair positions in the next legislative session. The paper reported, "Since the speaker founded his Dominion Leadership Trust in 2002, delegates who gave to the PAC in the final months before a General Assembly session won promotions in the next session to new committees or committee chair posts a total of 71 times, a Daily Press review of campaign funds and legislative records found. Another 15 were big donors in the preceding 12 months." Matt Moran, a spokesperson for Bill Howell, said that donations to the PAC were given to strengthen the Republican Party at the state level. Moran went on to say, "The speaker makes committee assignments based on number of factors including House rules, seniority, experience, knowledge or expertise in the subject matter, geography and availability. Committee chairs are, with a few very rare exceptions, appointed based on seniority."[2]
Support for state-level candidates
Contributions
The following tables detail the five largest contributions made by Dominion Leadership Trust to state-level candidates from 2003 to 2015 according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics.[3]
2015
| Candidate
|
Amount
|
Result
|
 Raul Vargas, State Delegate |
$528,950 |
 d
|
| Craig Parisot, State Delegate |
$396,061 |
d
|
| Lara Overy, State Delegate |
$345,802 |
d
|
| Chuong Nguyen, State Delegate |
$112,609 |
d
|
| Mark Dudenhefer, State Delegate |
$69,590 |
 a
|
2014
2013
| Candidate
|
Amount
|
Result
|
| David Yancey, State Delegate |
$523,796 |
a
|
| Barbara Comstock, State Delegate |
$252,922 |
a
|
| Michael Watson, State Delegate |
$238,763 |
d
|
| Jeffrey Campbell, State Delegate |
$229,595 |
a
|
| Joseph Yost, State Delegate |
$207,207 a
|
2012
2011
| Candidate
|
Amount
|
Result
|
| Joseph Yost, State Delegate |
$108,150 |
a
|
| Barbara Comstock, State Delegate |
$104,104 |
a
|
| John Barsa, State Delegate |
$77,799 |
d
|
| Brian Schoeneman, State Delegate |
$77,532 |
d
|
| Rick Morris, State Delegate |
$59,684 |
a
|
2010
This PAC did not contribute to candidates running for state-level office in 2010.
2009
| Candidate
|
Amount
|
Result
|
| Thomas Rust, State Delegate |
$164,200 |
a
|
| Chris Stolle, State Delegate |
$115,500 |
a
|
| David Albo, State Delegate |
$99,500 |
a
|
| Scott Garrett, State Delegate |
$68,063 |
a
|
| Rafael Lopez, State Delegate |
$50,000 |
d
|
2008
This PAC did not contribute to candidates running for state-level office in 2008.
2007
| Candidate
|
Amount
|
Result
|
| Chris Stolle, State Delegate |
$180,000 |
d
|
| John J. Welchh III, State Delegate |
$169,000 |
d
|
| Charles Poindexter, State Delegate |
$112,000 |
a
|
| Chris Peace, State Delegate |
$60,000 |
a
|
| Tim Hugo, State Delegate |
$43,000 |
a
|
| Brenda Pogge, State Delegate |
$43,000 |
a
|
2006
This PAC did not contribute to candidates running for state-level office in 2006.
2005
| Candidate
|
Amount
|
Result
|
| Thomas Gear, State Delegate |
$47,000 |
a
|
| Jeffrey Frederick, State Delegate |
$30,500 |
a
|
| Anne Crockett-Stark, State Delegate |
$25,500 |
a
|
| David Albo, State Delegate |
$25,000 |
a
|
| Bradley Marrs, State Delegate |
$21,300 |
d
|
2004
This PAC did not contribute to candidates running for state-level office in 2004.
2003
| Candidate
|
Amount
|
Result
|
| Thomas Dix, State Delegate |
$57,500 |
d
|
| Morgan Morris Jr., State Delegate |
$30,000 |
d
|
| Robert McDowell, State Delegate |
$27,000 |
d
|
| Alvin Bryant, State Delegate |
$25,000 |
d
|
| Ray Johnson, State Delegate |
$25,000 |
d
|
Support for federal candidates
Contributions
The following tables detail the five largest contributions made by Dominion Leadership Trust to federal candidates from 2010 to 2015 according to the Center for Responsive Politics.[4]
2014
2012
2010
| Candidate
|
Amount
|
Result
|
| Robert Hurt, U.S. House of Representatives |
$5,000 |
a
|
| Scott Rigell, U.S. House of Representatives |
$5,000 |
a
|
| Keith Fimian, U.S. House of Representatives |
$5,000 |
d
|
| Morgan Griffith, U.S. House of Representatives |
$5,000 |
a
|
| Rob Wittman, U.S. House of Representatives $1,000 a
|
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Dominion Leadership Trust'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Dominion Leadership Trust, "About the Trust," archived September 5, 2013
- ↑ Daily Press, "House of Delegates members paying while climbing the legislative ladder?" June 27, 2015
- ↑ National Institute on Money in State Politics, "Dominion Leadership Trust," accessed July 11, 2016
- ↑ Center for Responsive Politics, "Dominion Leadership Trust," accessed July 11, 2016
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