Ben Cline hasn’t yet commented publicly on his job future, with his forever safe congressional seat now gone, but no worries, because I’m here to help.
I scoured job listings on the interwebs for our lame-duck MAGA Republican congressman, and actually, the job market for fiftysomething lawyers in our part of Virginia with shockingly little real-world experience in the courtroom isn’t as tight as I’d feared.
The best option would appear to be right in his backyard, in Botetourt County, which has an open full-time Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney job.
Pros: good hours, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with medical, dental and vision insurance, and state and local holidays.
Cons: per Glassdoor, the pay is in the $59,000-a-year range.
Cline’s current salary in Congress: $174,000 a year.
Yikes.
Now we see why Cline was fighting the referendum so hard.
The salary problem would be similar for another good prospect that I found for Cline, another Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney job, this one in my backyard, Augusta County.
That one has been open for a while – it was posted on Jan. 22, so Tim Martin, the Commonwealth’s Attorney in Augusta County, is probably looking to get somebody in there ASAP.
Might want to jump on one of those two, Ben.
The law schools are about to graduate another crop of youngsters eager to get their feet wet throwing the book at jaywalkers.
More findings: VMI and UVA both have general counsel jobs open, which, on paper, would be cushy jobs for an ex-congressman, but the problem with both – they’re under the auspices of the Office of the Attorney General.
I doubt seriously that Jay Jones is going to throw Ben Cline a bone, which, that’s just karma being a bitch there.
Dynamic Aviation in Bridgewater, which is run by MAGA megadonor Michael Stoltzfus, has a general counsel job open, which is actually realistic.
If I’m a MAGA check-writer, I’d love to have a former congressman on my payroll to be my bitch.
Seemingly realistic: there’s an Assistant U.S. Attorney job open in Roanoke, not far from Cline’s home in Fincastle, but if I was the soon-to-be former congressman, I’d talk to my buddy Todd Gilbert before I’d try that one.
Good luck, Ben, is my message here.
He could always try real estate or insurance, and of course, Walmart always needs greeters.
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Chris Graham
