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McDonnell Resigns to Run

Posted By | February 3, 2009




Virginia Attorney General Robert McDonnell, the all-but-certain GOP nominee for governor this year, has informed his staff he's stepping down to concentrate on the campaign.

It's the most common thing in the world for attorneys general to run for governor, but in Virginia in recent years, the Republican AGs, such as Jim Gilmore and Jerry Kilgore, have resigned their office to run full-time for governor several months before Election Day.

I don't know what it is about the culture in Virginia that prompts this. I remember Gilmore trying to make it an issue in his run against Don Beyer, then the lieutenant governor, saying that politicians should leave office when running for governor, rather than collecting a paycheck for a job they clearly no longer had time for.

And yet other AGs -- and mayors and legislators and anybody making any move up the ladder -- hold onto their position and point to it as proper training for the next job.



 


Elizabeth Daigneau
Elizabeth Daigneau

Elizabeth Daigneau is GOVERNING's managing editor.

E-mail: edaigneau@governing.com
Twitter: @governing

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