Well, That Was Fast

After running a campaign for Virginia Governor in which campaign finance prominently featured, Virginia Governor-elect Ralph Northam is taking corporate money for the inauguration:

After calling for sweeping campaign finance reforms during last year’s Democratic primary, Gov.-elect Ralph Northam is accepting five-figure checks from some of Virginia’s biggest corporate donors to fund his inauguration.

Dominion Energy, the state’s top public service corporation whose bankrolling of Virginia politics has made some lawmakers increasingly uneasy, contributed $50,000 to Northam’s inaugural committee earlier this month, the same amount the company has given to help celebrate the last four incoming governors.

Northam’s committee received an additional $50,000 from the tobacco giant Altria, and took in $25,000 each from Anthem, Capital One, Hunton & Williams and Aetna Life & Casualty, well-known players in the health care, banking, legal and insurance fields.

Combined, the inaugural committee has taken in more than $250,000 from corporate or business donors, according to data on large donations compiled by the Virginia Public Access Project. The committee has reported raising almost $650,000 so far, including a $67,795 transfer from Northam’s PAC and several big checks from Democratic donors.

And they wonder why the electorate is cynical.