In 2017, a coalition of Democratic activists and party leaders led a “Blue Wave” in Virginia, flipping 15 Republican-held House seats and becoming a vessel of hope for Democrats nationwide. This year, every seat in the Virginia House of Delegates is an open race, and Democrats have a shot at taking control of the state Senate. In doing so, they would have a chance not just to weigh in on a redistricting process that could establish partisan political advantage for the next decade, but also to make serious strides on an issue they’ve repeatedly been frustrated on at the national level: climate change.

Energy policy is often thought of as a national issue, rather than a state one. But because states partially regulate energy companies, climate activists have zeroed in on state governments as venues where they must make reforms soon. The complicating factor is the amount of money energy companies spend on state politics.

For years, across the country, cash-strapped state Democratic parties have felt they needed companies like Dominion Energy, which serves Virginia, West Virginia, and the Carolinas as well as Utah, Ohio, Idaho, and Wyoming. Virginia’s Democratic Minority Leader Dick Saslaw sits on a committee responsible for evaluating energy-related bills and has accepted at least $363,000 from Dominion during his tenure as an elected official. Now, as Democratic parties try to rebuild themselves and regain lost ground, new leaders and candidates are trying to find ways to reconcile their need for huge sums of cash to compete in ever-more expensive elections with a growing demand to cut ties with corporate patrons. In Virginia, the fissure is exemplified by candidates’ stances towards Dominion, which has influenced, if not set, the state’s energy policy for decades.

In 2017, the Virginia gubernatorial Democratic primary candidates were Ralph Northam, who to date has received at least $206,751 from Dominion Energy, and former Congressman Tom Perriello, who loudly refused Dominion donations and made opposing their influence one of the central issues of his campaign. That year the group Activate Virginia circulated a pledge asking candidates not to accept Dominion money. Debra Rodman, an associate professor of anthropology at Randolph Macon who was running for House District 73, was among the assembly candidates who campaigned on her promise to reject Dominion money.* “I was informed by my voters, honestly,” Rodman said. “It’s not just about energy but taking a strong stance on campaign finance reform.” She believes that the new candidates who declined Dominion money were willing to do so because they were “all regular working people who understand what living day-to-day is like. I think we really came into this becoming elected officials with a perspective of wanting to represent the people.”

Perriello lost the primary to Northam, who a year later became notorious for having appeared in his medical school yearbook in blackface. But in the November general election for the Virginia House, Rodman won—beating a 17-year Republican incumbent in a district that hadn’t been represented by a Democrat in over thirty years. Twelve other Democrats who had taken the pledge not to accept Dominion dollars won their races, too. Now, just two years later, the math is different. At least 61 candidates for state office in Virginia have pledged not to accept money from Dominion Energy.