Virginia Gubernatorial Candidate Receives Major Donations from Controversial Billionaire
Harlan Crow, a billionaire known for his involvement in conservative political circles, has contributed a total of $65,000 to Virginia’s gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears. Crow’s donations have drawn attention due to his previous controversial gifts to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
In 2022, Crow personally donated $10,000 to Earle-Sears, followed by an additional $5,000 contribution in the following year. Furthermore, in January 2024, the Crow Family Office Pool, L.L.C., where Crow serves as CEO, contributed $50,000 to Earle-Sears’ Political Action Committee (PAC).
Crow, who inherited his wealth from a real estate empire built by his father, has been a prominent figure in conservative politics since the 1990s. He played a key role in founding the Club for Growth, which advocates for policies such as reducing Social Security benefits and lowering tax rates for the wealthy.
Controversy surrounding Crow intensified in April 2023 when ProPublica released a report highlighting Crow’s luxurious gifts to Justice Clarence Thomas, including access to a private jet and yacht. Subsequent revelations indicated that Crow also funded the private school education of Thomas’ grandnephew and financed renovations for a property inhabited by Thomas’ mother. These gifts were not disclosed by Thomas in his financial reports, despite legal obligations to do so.
Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), expressed concerns, stating, “Justice Thomas’s acceptance of and failure to disclose these repeated, lavish gifts … not only undermines public trust in his ability to serve impartially on the Court, it undermines confidence in the Supreme Court as an institution.”
Both Crow and Thomas insist that their relationship is strictly personal and devoid of any impropriety.
Winsome Earle-Sears, currently serving as the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia since 2022, secured the Republican nomination for the governor’s race on April 5. Her Democratic opponent in the election is former Representative Abigail Spanberger. Crow had previously supported Spanberger with a $2,800 donation in 2019 but has not contributed to her campaign since then.
As of now, Earle-Sears’s campaign has not responded to requests for comments regarding Crow’s contributions.
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