Two candidates will appear before a joint committee of the General Assembly on Tuesday for election to the State Corporation Commission – Sam Towell, a former deputy attorney general and now associate general counsel for Smithfield Foods, and Kelsey Bagot, former legal counsel at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, known as FERC.
Sam Towell is a former deputy attorney general.
Towell and Bagot became the finalists after legislative leaders winnowed an initial field of 23 candidates to fill two seats on the SCC, which regulates some of Virginia’s most vital industries – energy, banking and investment, and insurance.
New General Assembly seeks swift election of State Corporation Commission judges
They will appear on Tuesday afternoon at a joint meeting of the Senate Commerce and Labor and the House Labor and Commerce committees, which will interview them for an expected vote by the House of Delegates and Senate on Wednesday.
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Here’s why it matters
The SCC, created as a constitutionally independent body in 1902 to regulate some of the biggest businesses in Virginia, has been operating without a full panel of judges since early 2022.
The commission oversees regulation of public utilities, such as electric and natural gas companies, banks and financial services, and insurance companies. It runs Virginia’s new health insurance marketplace to administer the Affordable Care Act and registers all corporate and other entities doing business in the state.
The elections would end a long stalemate
The elections would end a long political stalemate that began six years ago and continues to roil an institution created in 1903 as a constitutionally independent body, but which remains dependent on the legislature to elect its members and pass the laws that it must administer.
Jehmal Hudson is the only current full-time judge on the State Corporation Commission.
They would join Jehmal Hudson, a former FERC official elected in 2020 and the lone member of the three-judge panel since Judge Judy Jagdmann resigned at the end of 2022, in part to give a politically divided assembly the opportunity to reach a compromise to fill two vacancies instead of one. Earlier that year, the newly elected Republican-controlled House refused to re-elect Angela Navarro, whom Democrats had selected for the panel the previous year when they still controlled both chambers.
The infighting dates to 2018
However, the political infighting over the SCC dates to 2018, when Republicans who then controlled both chambers couldn’t agree on a replacement for Judge Jimmy Dimitri after he retired early that year. The next year, they chose Patricia West, a former Virginia Beach circuit court judge and longtime Republican appointee, but Democrats retaliated after winning control of the assembly by replacing her with Hudson in 2020. They elected Navarro, a deputy secretary of natural resources under then-Gov. Ralph Northam, in 2021 to succeed Judge Mark Christie, who was appointed to FERC, but she failed to win re-election a year later.
Since then, the Democratic-controlled Senate and Republican-controlled House failed to elect replacements in two consecutive assembly sessions and two special legislative sessions. In November, Democrats won narrow majorities in both chambers, giving them the opportunity to elect both judges.
Towell has been mentioned as a potential SCC candidate before. He served as deputy attorney general for litigation for almost five years under then-Attorney General Mark Herring, a Democrat. Previously, Towell had served as deputy secretary of agriculture and forestry under then-Gov. Terry McAuliffe. He also works as a litigation attorney at McGuireWoods law firm in Richmond and as a law clerk for Judge Barbara Milano Keenan at the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
Bagot, who lives in Loudoun County, works as senior regulatory attorney at NextEra Energy, based in Florida, the third-largest electric utility company in the United States. Previously, he served as legal counsel at FERC to Christie, who had served on the SCC for almost 17 years. Bagot also served two previous stints at FERC – as trial staff counsel and as legal intern – as well as two law firms in Washington, D.C. – Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders and Van Ness Feldman.
Virginia General Assembly opens 2024 session
Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County speaks on the Virginia State Senate floor at the Virginia State Capitol on January 10, 2024, in Richmond, Va. MARGO WAGNER/TIMES-DISPATCH
Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, questioned why the Youngkin administration halted the Engage Virginia program.
Sen. Emily Jordan, R-Isle of Wight opens a door at the Virginia State Capitol on January 10, 2024, in Richmond, Va. MARGO WAGNER/TIMES-DISPATCH
Sen. Danny Diggs, R-York listens to one of his fellow senators speak at the Virginia State Capitol on Wednesday.
Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton looks towards the front of the Virginia State Senate while her fellow senators talk amongst themselves while at ease at the Virginia State Capitol on January 10, 2024, in Richmond, Va. MARGO WAGNER/TIMES-DISPATCH
Sen. Bill DeSteph, R-Virginia Beach, talks to Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, at the state Capitol on Wednesday. Senate Bill 294, introduced by DeSteph, has been referred to the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee for consideration.
Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, D-Fairfax, says lawmakers are “getting close” to selecting judges for the State Corporation Commission.
Speaker of the House Don Scott Jr. addresses the House of Delegates at the Capitol Building on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024. Scott is the first Black Speaker of the House of Delegates of Virginia.
Speaker of the House Don Scott Jr. addresses the House of Delegates at the Capitol Building on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024. Scott is the first Black Speaker of the House of Delegates of Virginia.
Speaker of the House Don Scott Jr. addresses the House of Delegates at the Capitol Building on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024. Scott is the first Black Speaker of the House of Delegates of Virginia.
Speaker of the House Don Scott Jr. addresses the House of Delegates at the Capitol Building on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024. Scott is the first Black Speaker of the House of Delegates of Virginia.
Del. Don Scott Jr., D-Portsmouth becomes emotional before becoming Speaker of the House at the Capitol Building on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024.
