Political officials in Virginia are required to submit Statement of Economic Interest forms that are posted to the state’s ethics advisory council website. As a part-time legislature, delegates and senators have lives and other work outside of representing constituents and must disclose publicly what might be an economic interest to them.
Sen. Lamont Bagby, D-Henrico, who is running to be the next chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia, initially failed to disclose his wife and various businesses on recent SOEI forms. Though the document has been amended to include those details, one of his opponents in the race questions why they weren’t revealed in the first place and if it’s something Republicans could target Bagby for should he become the leader of the state’s Democratic party.
Bagby told The Mercury that the omission was an “oversight.”
Potential liability for state Democrats?
The form includes the question “Do you or a member of your immediate family own, separately or together, a business that has a value in excess of $5,000?” Bagby had at first answered “no,” despite his wife’s salon and event space businesses. On the updated form, amended on March 10, he answered yes to that question.
Josh Stanfield, who is also running for DPVA chair, has tried to ask Bagby about potential conflicts of interest in candidate forums.
In an interview with the Mercury and on his blog, Stanfield noted that when former Democratic governor L. Douglas Wilder was a candidate in 1989, he came under scrutiny from Republicans for failing to disclose his real estate and stock holdings on forms. At the time, Wilder called on then-Democratic Attorney General Mary Sue Terry to investigate the matter.
“(She) was able to put that to rest,” Stanfield said. “But the point is, when it comes to these forms, any sort of omission or anything of serious question gives the Republicans a route of attack, whether founded or unfounded.”
Stanfield also points to Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares’ run for re-election and how former DPVA spokesperson Liam Watson was subject to a probe from Miyares’ office. Watson, who left DPVA in 2023 after being elected to Blacksburg town council, now faces trial for election fraud charges.
DPVA’s central committee members will vote between Zach Pruckowski, Bagby and Stanfield on March 22 to pick the party’s new chair. That person will then be the new face and voice of the political party in Virginia and can play a key role in boosting Democrats ahead of this year’s House of Delegates and executive branch elections.
When reached for comment, Pruckowski did not wish to weigh in on Bagby’s forms.
“I’m just staying focused on making the case to members of (DPVA’s Central Committee) that I’m the best guy for the job,” he said.
As candidates for an inner-party race rather than a state-run election, neither Stanfield and Pruckowski are subject to the SOEI.
“To qualify for the ballot in a state-run election, you have to fill out to SOEI,” DPVA’s executive director Shyam Raman said.
Meanwhile, as a former state candidate and current state lawmaker, Bagby fills out SOEI forms each year. Issues with Bagby’s paperwork were first discovered by independent journalist Christa Motley and when she questioned Bagby about them, his lawyer responded.
“The omission that you shared has been addressed and was a result of an oversight,” Bagby’s lawyer Joe Massie wrote to Motley on March 11 after the forms had been updated.
Motley, who has spent years reporting on how Virginia’s substance use recovery homes are managed in the state, uncovered Bagby’s connections to the Virginia Association of Recovery Residences and began looking into his finances more closely when he announced his run for DPVA chair.
Her reporting on recovery homes revealed Bagby’s role in state funds that VARR has received in recent years — a role Bagby has downplayed.
“All I have done was give money to the recovery community,” he said in a recent interview with The Mercury.
Emails that Motley received through a Freedom of Information Act request showed VARR officials referring to Bagby as a “champion” in the legislature. He also joined a limited liability company called Imagine The Freedom LLC with members of VARR, which owned a property, as well. Though the LLC was on Bagby’s previous SOEI forms, it is absent in recent years. This is because his association with Imagine The Freedom has ended, he told The Mercury.
Virginia’s Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council website is where SOEI forms are publicly viewable. The database indicates that Bagby recently amended his filing, but previous versions of the forms are not publicly available. The Mercury confirmed the omissions through a records request to the council.
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Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Virginia Mercury maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Samantha Willis for questions: info@virginiamercury.com.
www.youtube.com – 13News Now – 2025-04-19 06:29:35
SUMMARY: This Saturday morning brings a beautiful weekend, especially for Easter celebrations, with highs in the upper 80s. Southwest breezes, gusting to 25 miles per hour, push temperatures well above average, starting in the upper 50s to middle 60s. Expect mostly sunny skies and warm conditions, ideal for beach outings, despite chilly water temperatures. Easter Sunday will start mild, but a backdoor cold front will cause temperatures to drop in the afternoon with increasing cloud cover and potential rain. Multiple rounds of rain are forecasted for the upcoming week, with temperatures returning to seasonal averages by the latter part of the week.
Despite a front dropping through the area Sunday, it will be a nice weekend in Hampton Roads.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Shirleen Guerra | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-18 11:38:00
(The Center Square) – Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earles-Sears accuses her Democratic opponent for governor, Abigail Spanberger of hiding a trust; Spanberger says it only holds her home—and ethics experts say she may not have needed to report it.
The Dispute centers on a home Spanberger and her husband placed in a trust in 2017, which her campaign says produced no income and was legally exempt from disclosure.
With both women vying to become Virginia’s first female governor, the accusation has quickly turned into a fight over ethics, transparency and what voters expect from their candidates.
“Members of Congress do not need to report assets from a non-income producing trust where they are an administrator that does not receive income or have any beneficial interest in the trust,” said Delaney Marsco, ethics director at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center.
“Personal residences that do not earn income are not required to be disclosed,” a campaign spokesperson said, “so Abigail did not disclose her family’s only home—as doing so would make their home address publicly available.”
They added that when the home was placed in a trust, “Abigail filed her disclosures in accordance with House ethics rules, which do not require her to disclose her role as a trustee of a living trust holding only her family’s home.”
Earle-Sears has publicly slammed Spanberger on social media, accusing her of “dodging tough questions” and “hiding a $900,000 trust fund.”
“She’s a typical politician,” Earle-Sears wrote in apost on X, questioning whether Virginians can trust Spanberger if she’s “willing to lie about this.”
The Earle-Sears campaign did not respond to a request for comment beyond public posts.
The accusation signals an early campaign strategy from Earle-Sears, who has so far leaned into sharp, combative messaging to define Spanberger as the race for the governor’s mansion heats up.
Under House ethics rules, members of Congressare not requiredto disclose personal residences or non-income-producing assets held in a trust as long as they receive no financial benefit. They must report liabilities such as mortgages and disclose trustee roles only if the position involves an organization or generates income.
Virginia requires statewide candidates to file a Statement of Economic Interests, but similar to federal rules, personal residencesare typically exemptif they don’t produce income. The state form focuses on business ties, investments and income sources—leaving out non-commercial trusts like the one Spanberger’s team says holds her home.
www.youtube.com – 13News Now – 2025-04-18 06:11:37
SUMMARY: The weather forecast for the upcoming days shows temperatures above average, with highs reaching 79°F today and possibly 86°F tomorrow. Sunday will remain warm with temperatures in the upper 70s, but a backdoor front may cause a slight afternoon cool down. Easter Sunday will see dry conditions in the morning but potential severe storms in the Midwest. Monday will be mild, but showers and storms are expected Tuesday through Thursday. By Friday, conditions should improve, with temperatures in the upper 70s to low 80s as the week ends. Skies will be mostly clear today, with light winds from the south.
