Federal court dismisses suit against Virginia’s congressional redistricting
On Friday, a federal court dismissed a lawsuit brought by six Virginia residents that sought to have the court draw Virginia’s congressional districts for the upcoming November elections.
Among other reasons, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia dismissed the case based on its finding that the recent actions of the General Assembly in passing a new redistricting rendered the case moot. Continue reading “Federal court dismisses suit against Virginia’s congressional redistricting” »
Group pushes for expansion of Alicia’s Law
Alicia’s Law, the Virginia legislation inspired by the rescue of a captive child, has generated more law enforcement funds than projected in its first two years and should be expanded immediately to ensure more child rescues.
That’s the message delivered today by a group of Virginia law enforcement and legislative leaders who joined the pro-child, anti-crime group PROTECT for a press conference in Richmond.
The gathering included Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, Capt. Kirk Marlowe of the Virginia State Police and Bedford County Sheriff Mike Brown, as well as Deputy Majority Leader Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) and Sen. Creigh Deeds (D-Bath). Continue reading “Group pushes for expansion of Alicia’s Law” »
AG’s office to fight redistricting suit
The Supreme Court of Virginia on Tuesday denied a writ of prohibition and declined to grant an immediate appeal of a Circuit Court of the City of Richmond decision that refused to dismiss a challenge to the authority of the General Assembly to draw new congressional district lines.
In its order, the Supreme Court said the circuit court’s ruling was not sufficiently definitive to permit immediate review. The Supreme Court also explicitly declined to reach the merits of the underlying case at this time.
The attorney general’s office intends to do everything within its control to obtain an immediate, definitive, reviewable order from the circuit court.
“The elected representatives of the citizens of Virginia have passed a redistricting plan through the legislative process,” said Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, “and we will continue to seek to protect the result of that process.” Continue reading “AG’s office to fight redistricting suit” »
Farm Bureau: Farmers visit Capitol to lobby on eminent-domain
Farmers said their Jan. 24 visits to members of the General Assembly during Virginia Farm Bureau Federation’s annual Legislative Day were a critical step in securing a constitutional amendment to protect private property from eminent domain abuse.
Farm Bureau leaders meet annually with their state delegates and senators to share their thoughts on legislative issues relevant to agriculture and to explain why Farm Bureau has taken some of its specific stands.
“There is no substitute to being present … emails don’t compare to a good, solid handshake,” said Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who spoke to about 150 Farm Bureau leaders. He also has voiced support for the constitutional amendment. Continue reading “Farm Bureau: Farmers visit Capitol to lobby on eminent-domain” »
Bolling takes swipe at Cuccinelli over primary
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has reversed his position on an earlier public call for immediate action that would allow candidates who failed to qualify for the March Republican presidential primary a spot on the ballot.
Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling took a swipe at his rival for the 2013 GOP gubernatorial nomination in the aftermath, encouraging Cuccinelli to “avoid making public statements that criticize our state election laws while his office is defending the State Board of Elections.”
“I am concerned that such public comments could be used against the Commonwealth in our effort to defend these lawsuits, and I am confident that the attorney general would not want to do anything that could jeopardize his office’s ability to win this case,” Bolling said in a statement. Continue reading “Bolling takes swipe at Cuccinelli over primary” »
Cuccinelli amends stance on ballot access
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has reversed course on his call for immediate corrective action regarding ballot access for the March Republican Party presidential primary.
“After working through different scenarios with Republican and Democratic leaders to attempt to make changes in time for the 2012 presidential election, my concern grows that we cannot find a way to make such changes fair to the Romney and Paul campaigns that qualified even with Virginia’s burdensome system,” Cuccinelli said in a statement Sunday night. Continue reading “Cuccinelli amends stance on ballot access” »
Poll: Virginians divided over State Senate split
A new Public Policy Polling survey reveals that Virginia voters think that Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling would be acting in accord with the state Constitution if he were to break a tie in favor of giving Republicans control olf the State Senate, but that at the same time the GOP should share power with Democrats in accord with the results of the November General Assembly elections.
Fifty-five percent of Virginia voters think there should be some sort of power-sharing arrangement, according to a PPP poll released Friday, while only 31 percent of voters think Republicans should have full control of the senior chamber. The key voting bloc there is independents, who side with Democrats in backing power-sharing by a 53 percent-to-28 percent margin.
The split in favor of Bolling’s power to vote to break ties is much closer – with 37 percent saying they feel he has the power to side with Republicans in the Senate organization and 34 percent saying they don’t think he has that power. Continue reading “Poll: Virginians divided over State Senate split” »
Poll: Cuccinelli with big early lead in ’13 GOP gubernatorial race
Ken Cuccinelli holds an early 19-point lead in the race for the 2013 Republican Party gubernatorial nomination, according to poll numbers released by Public Policy Polling on Tuesday.
The attorney general leads the lieutenant governor by a 44 percent-to-25 percent margin in the PPP survey of GOP voters. The lead is based largely on Cuccinelli’s big advantage in name recognition (73 percent of GOP have an opinion on Cuccinelli, while just 48 percent have an opinion on Bolling) and a huge gap among Tea Party voters. Cuccinelli holds a 58 percent-to-18 percent lead over Bolling among Tea Party voters in the PPP poll. Continue reading “Poll: Cuccinelli with big early lead in ’13 GOP gubernatorial race” »
Dem leader jumps on Cuccinelli gubernatorial run
The prospect that Ken Cuccinelli will be making official his plans to run for the 2013 Republican nomination for governor has Democrats salivating.
“Ken Cuccinelli’s impending gubernatorial announcement is further proof that his political career is about one thing and one thing only: Ken Cuccinelli. Instead of fighting everyday for Virginia families, he has used his taxpayer-funded office to prove to the Tea Party that no one is more radically out of touch with middle class Virginians than he is,” Democratic Party of Virginia Chairman Brian Moran said today.
Published reports have Cuccinelli, the sitting state attorney general, planning an announcement regarding his plans to run for governor for next week. The move would set off a contested nomination battle between Cuccinelli and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, who sidestepped a similar possible tete-a-tete with then-Attorney General Bob McDonnell in advance of the 2009 state elections.
The gentlemen’s agreement between McDonnell and Bolling helped the GOP roll to landslide wins in all three statewide races in 2009. The last time there was a gubernatorial-nomination battle between two sitting state officeholders was in 2001, when then-Attorney General Mark Earley defeated then-Lt. Gov. John Hager for the GOP nomination before losing in the general election to Democrat Mark Warner.
Cuccinelli has made a name for himself in the Republican base for his controversial attacks on climate-change science and the 2010 federal health-care reform. As popular as he has proven to be among GOP voters, Cuccinelli has been just as unpopular with Democrats, who are eager to use his controversial stands against him.
“Should he break his promise to run for re-election and beat Bill Bolling in a primary, Ken Cuccinelli will offer Virginia Democrats a real opportunity to expose the Republican Party for what it is, and to offer a clear alternative. While Cuccinelli and the Republicans would rather pick fights with Washington and curry favor with the Tea Party than fight for middle class families, Democrats are focused on creating jobs and opportunity by improving education, fixing transportation and investing in clean energy,” Moran said.
Poll: Republicans have early lead over Dems in ’13 state races
Republicans Bill Bolling and Ken Cuccinelli both have early leads over potential Democratic gubernatorial challengers Terry McAuliffe and Tom Perriello.
Public Policy Polling has Bolling, the sitting lieutenant governor, leading McAuliffe by a 38 percent-to-33 percent margin and leading Perriello, the former Fifth District congressman, 39 percent to 32 percent. Cuccinelli, the sitting attorney general, leads McAuliffe 41 percent to 38 percent and Perriello 41 percent to 36 percent.
That the race on both sides is still very, very wide open is evident in the large numbers of voters who have no opinion one way or the other on any of the four. Sixty-six percent don’t know enough about Bolling, now in his second term as lieutenant governor, to have an opinion of him, while 64 percent have no opnion of Perriello, 59 percent say the same for McAuliffe and 35 percent say that for Cuccinelli.
Poll: Cuccinelli leads Bolling among GOP voters
Bill Bolling stepped aside to allow Bob McDonnell to run uncontested for the Republican Party gubernatorial nomination in 2009. He may have to step aside for McDonnell’s successor as attorney general in 2013.
Ken Cuccinelli leads Bolling among Republican voters by a hefty margin, according to recent polling done by Public Policy Polling. PPP has Cuccinelli, the sitting attorney general, ahead of Bolling, the sitting lieutenant governor, by a 45 percent-to-21 percent margin.
It’s not surprising that the controversial Cuccinelli leads among self-identified “very conservative” voters – by a 56 percent-to-15 percent tally. He also leads among moderates – 40 percent to 22 percent – and among “somewhat conservative” voters – 34 percent to 25 percent.
The advantage at this early, early, early stage in the walkup to 2013 – name recognition. Seventy-one percent of GOP voters have an opinion on Cuccinelli, and it’s largely favorable (56 percent favorable, 15 percent unfavorable). Bolling is known by only 41 percent of Republican voters – with 28 percent holding a favorable opinion of Bolling and 13 percent having an unfavorable opinion of him.
David Reynolds: Our next governor
Posted by afp on February 21, 2012 · Leave a Comment
Filed under Blogs · Tagged with bill bolling, bob mcdonnell, david reynolds, ken cuccinelli, republican politics, virginia politics