Sam Towell, left, and Kelsey Bagot, right, speak with State Corporation Commission staff, lobbyists and attorneys Tuesday. (Charlie Paullin/Virginia Mercury)
Two seats on the Virginia State Corporation Commission that have been vacant for over a year because of a political standoff are on the way to getting filled by the Democratic-controlled legislature.
The House Labor and Commerce Committee and Senate Commerce and Labor Committee in a joint decision Tuesday unanimously backed two candidates for the body: Kelsey Bagot, an energy company attorney and former legal adviser with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and Sam Towell, a Smithfield Foods attorney who previously was with the Virginia Office of the Attorney General.
The two must now be elected by a majority of both chambers, a vote that could occur as soon as Wednesday.
Democrats, who assumed control of the House while retaining control of the Senate in November, chose Bagot and Towell after reviewing resumes from 23 candidates, according to Senate Commerce and Labor Chairman Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville. He and House Labor and Commerce Chairwoman Jeion Ward, D-Hampton, were tasked by the party with finding candidates to fill the vacancies.