Newport News Mayor Phillip Jones raises funds for reelection with help from Good News PAC

Earlier this year, Jones held nearly half a million dollars in his campaign account. The figure has fluctuated significantly in recent months as funds moved between his campaign committee and the Good News PAC. Campaign finance records show the PAC transferred a total of $423,000 to Jones’ campaign committee last year.

Jones said the PAC’s goal is to help more veterans and committed public servants seek office.

“It’s so hard to get qualified individuals to run for office across this country,” Jones said. “The level of vitriol is at an all-time high, and my goal was just to make one thing easier for people who are veterans or servant leaders.”

Joe Gonzalez, one of Jones’ finance directors, said the PAC plans to support other Newport News candidates this November.

“This November, we intend to support strong down-ballot candidates who share a commitment to public service and want to help move Newport News and our country forward,” Gonzalez said in a statement. Jones’ team declined to name specific candidates. The next Virginia campaign finance filing deadline for PACs and candidates is Sept. 15.

Good News PAC was formed in 2022 after Jones won his first election and began accepting donations in 2024. On Dec. 18, 2025, Jones loaned the PAC $275,000, according to records from the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project. The PAC transferred that amount to Jones’ mayoral campaign committee, Friends of Phillip Jones, the next day. The committee then donated the same amount back to the PAC on April 1.

Other major donations to the PAC include $150,000 from Dominion Energy, $20,000 from a Hampton general contractor, and $10,000 each from three local and out-of-state real estate or development groups.

The PAC previously gave $14,300 to Shannon Jones’ successful 2025 campaign for Newport News Commonwealth’s Attorney, $1,000 to prosecutor Shannon Taylor’s U.S. House campaign, and $2,000 to Nate Jester, a former Marine who lost a runoff for Atlanta City Council in December.

Jason Torchinsky, a partner at Holtzman Vogel Josefiak PLLC who specializes in campaign finance, said Jones’ early large infusion of funds may have been intended to build a war chest large enough to discourage challengers. Even if the money later moved, he said, the visible resources can deter opponents who cannot match them.

“Money isn’t always the determinative thing in candidate races, but often it is, and showing that you have substantial funds available is a way of sort of holding off competitors,” Torchinsky said. “It’s a deterrent to an opponent who doesn’t have those resources.”

Virginia is one of 11 states with no limits on contributions from individual donors and one of only five with no limits on corporate donations.

“I will always be the top fundraiser in my campaign, and I invested that money because that’s how strongly I believe in the future of Newport News and Hampton Roads,” Jones said.

Hamilton and Scott, while trailing in fundraising, both have prior experience raising campaign money and previously outraised opponents. Scott’s highest prior total was less than $25,000 in a 2010 City Council race, though she outraised opponents in all three of her successful council bids. Hamilton, who served in the Virginia House from 1988 to 2009, raised nearly $690,000 in a failed 2009 House race—about $100,000 more than his opponent. He resigned that year amid a federal bribery investigation that led to his conviction and an eight-year prison sentence.

Hamilton acknowledged his financial disadvantage but emphasized a grassroots approach free of large special-interest contributions.

“If there’s no money, there’s no money,” Hamilton said. “But it doesn’t cost me anything to go meet with people. It doesn’t cost me anything to tell them what my ideas are.”

Scott similarly said she is focused on community campaigning rather than large donors.

“Not one of those dollars vote, so I’m not really concerned about his $500,000,” Scott said. “My strategy has always been a handshake and a smile and meeting people where they are.”

Newport News is the only Hampton Roads locality electing a mayor this year. Jones is the only Hampton Roads mayor outside of Norfolk’s Kenny Alexander to be involved with a PAC. Alexander previously ran Friends of Norfolk, which received roughly $175,000 in contributions since 2015 and made donations to various candidates and campaigns before becoming inactive.

Jones described the money flowing between his campaign and the PAC as essentially the same dollars in different accounts, all ultimately aimed at electing people who share a common vision.

“When I call donors or the fundraising team calls donors, sometimes people just want to invest in the mission of getting more veterans into local races,” Jones said. “I tell everyone, local races, that’s where the rubber hits the road.”