Who will become Virginia’s 72nd governor? Will it be Democrat Terry McAuliffe or Republican Ken Cuccinelli? Both campaigns are working diligently on getting the 10,000 signatures needed to have their names added to Virginia’s ballot for governor in November. However, this is not the case for Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling who jumped in the GOP race earlier last year but jumped out in November.
It was rumored for months that Bolling would run as an independent for governor and today he says “no”. Bolling has decided not to run stating potential challenges with raising $10 million to $15 million to run a successful campaign without the backing of a party organization. He contends that he still supports the Republican party but told the Washington Post that he is not satisfied with the political climate in the state. Bolling decribed Virginia politics as “hyper-partisan and mean-spirited” and resembles Washington even more. Virginia legislators always took pride in fair government.
Both gubernatorial candidates McAuliffe and Cuccinelli responded to Bolling’s suspension of an independent party run for governor. McAuliffe praised Bolling for his decision and said Virginia owes Bolling quote “a debt of gratitude for his mainstream leadership.” Also, McAuliffe mentioned that his opponent for governor Cuccinelli is on the far right, but draws a distinction between him and more moderate Republicans like Bolling and Governor Bob McDonnell. Cuccinelli thanked Bolling for his service, and went on to draw a clear contrast between himself and McAuliffe, whom he calls “a career Washington insider and Democrat fundraiser.”
Bill Bolling is out of the race for governor so does this mean a deadheat between Cuccinelli and McAuliffe? Most polls seem to show that the race is tight. Look at the poll results from Quinnipiac University.
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