Democratic Virginia delegate candidate Susanna Gibson hauled in hundreds of thousands of dollars through her campaign from liberal advocacy groups and individual donors just before news broke that she had sex with her husband for cash on camera, records show.
Gibson has dubbed the scandal, reported on by the Washington Post on Sept. 11, as "an illegal invasion of my privacy designed to humiliate me and my family" despite the sexually explicit clips not being leaked but, instead, posted by the 40-year-old nurse practitioner and her husband, lawyer John David Gibson, on the platform Chaturbate and later archived on other porn sites. Between July 1 and Aug. 31, left-leaning contributors flooded the delegate hopeful's campaign with almost $600,000, according to campaign finance disclosures.
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"This is a very damaging development," Rich Anderson, chairman of the Virginia GOP and a former legislature member, told the Washington Examiner. "Gibson has demonstrated complete and total lack of any character. Forget policy differences."
The donations were recently released by Virginia's board of elections and underscore how left-leaning donors have sought to boost Gibson in her high-stakes contest against Republican businessman David Owen. Many liberal groups that donated to Gibson and endorsed her have continued their support or been silent, though Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) admitted he "was very, very surprised at the story," while Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) sometime in the last few days deleted a social media post from Sept. 8 showing her with the candidate at an event.
Clean Virginia Fund, a left-leaning political action committee funded by the wealthy Charlottesville-based investor Michael Bills, handed $188,000 combined to Gibson's campaign on July 19 and Aug. 21, filings show. The entity, which aims to "advance clean government and clean energy by fighting utility monopoly corruption in Virginia politics," has contributed almost $3.8 million in 2023 to Democrats.
Meanwhile, philanthropist and longtime Democratic donor Sonjia Smith, the wife of Bills, gave $70,000 combined in August to Gibson's campaign. The couple was recently dubbed "the new kingmakers of the Virginia Democratic Party."
"A hedge funder from Charlottesville staged a leveraged takeover of the Democrat Party of Virginia and succeeded magnificently," Dave Gordon, director of the GOP-aligned Virginia Project PAC, told the Washington Examiner, referring to Bills, who did not return a request for comment.
The Democratic Party of Virginia steered almost $28,000 in August to Gibson's campaign, which also received $42,000 from Virginia's House Democratic Caucus, filings show. The entities have not said whether they will contribute more to the candidate or condemn her for the sex camera acts.
EMILY's List, an influential left-wing PAC that endorsed Gibson, gave her campaign $20,000 in August. PAC For America's Future, which the conservative group Capital Research Center has said received funding from the George Soros-backed Democracy PAC, donated $8,750 to the Gibson campaign in August, records show.
Win Virginia, a group that is purportedly "collaborating closely with both the Virginia House and Senate Caucuses to ensure lasting Democratic majorities in both chambers," contributed $12,250 to the Gibson campaign between July and August, while Rep. Don Beyer's (D-VA) campaign cut it a $5,000 check in late July.
Other notable donors included Planned Parenthood Virginia PAC, the Henrico County Democratic Committee, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network & CCAN Action Fund, and Jeanne Duross, a senior ethics lawyer in the White House's Presidential Personnel Office, filings show.
Robin Dripps, a University of Virginia professor who gave the Gibson campaign $10,000 in early August, told the Washington Examiner she stands by the Democrat and, as far as "future" donations, is "likely to contribute."
"Susanna is an outstanding candidate," she said. "I am in complete support since her policies, strategies for realizing these, and in general her sense of duty are crucial characteristics I think she demonstrates with strength."
As of Aug. 31, Gibson's committee had over $467,000 cash on hand, the fourth most out of other state campaigns, records show. Owen, her opponent, hauled in over $188,000 between July and August and reported $247,900 cash on hand, 25th among other candidates.
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The vast majority of donations to Gibson's campaign in the last reporting period were over $100 too. This category accounted for over $493,000 in receipts, while $33,200 came from $100 or less donations and almost $68,000 thanks to in-kind donations over $100.
Neither Gibson nor groups that donated to her replied to requests for comment.