Politics & Government

Bolling Not Running for Governor of Virginia

Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling appeared to be considering a run as an independent.

Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) announced Tuesday in an email to supporters that he has decided not to run for governor.

Speculation had grown recently that Bolling might run as an independent in the race. That would have made it a three-way race between Bolling, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and former DNC chair Terry McAuliffe.

  • See: 

Bolling decided not to go head to head with Cuccinelli after the Virginia Republican party decided it would choose its nominee in a state party convention rather than a primary. Cuccinelli, a social conservative, is popular among Virginia's conservative activists who are likely to attend the convention, the New York Times pointed out last fall when Bolling initially bowed out of the race.

Find out what's happening in Del Raywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

  • See: Bolling Drops Out of 2013 Race for Governor

Bolling sent an email to supporters, explaining his decision. The Washington Post ran part of that email Tuesday:

"The biggest challenge an Independent candidate faces is fundraising. You can have a winning message, but if you don’t have the resources to effectively communicate that message to voters you cannot win. . . . Based on my discussions with key donors over the past three weeks, I was confident I could raise enough money to run a competitive campaign, but I was not confident I could raise enough money to run a winning campaign.”

Find out what's happening in Del Raywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Post also noted the Republican Lieutenant Governor's reluctance, in the email note, to sever ties with his political party: "While I still value public service a great deal, the truth is that I just don’t find the political process to be as enjoyable as I once did. Because of this, I decided that the time has come for me to step away from elected office and look for other ways to serve Virginia."

McAuliffe issued a statement Tuesday about Bolling's decision:

"Virginia owes Bill Bolling a debt of gratitude for his mainstream leadership, focus on job creation, and willingness to work with both parties to find solutions.  I know he will continue to work hard for the Commonwealth’s future and look forward to hearing his ideas on how to make Virginia the best for business. ... 

"As Bill Bolling wrote today, “Our priority should be on electing a Governor who has the ability to effectively and responsibly govern our state and provide the mainstream leadership we need to solve problems, get things done and make Virginia a better place to live.” I couldn’t agree more."

 Interested in getting Del Ray Patch directly into your inbox each morning? Learn more about our daily newsletter.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here