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Bolling to seek re-election to current post
Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) announced on Monday that he will not run for governor next year but will instead seek re-election to his current post. That throws a kink into the plans of several other Republicans who had been planning to run for lieutenant governor on the assumption that the seat would be vacant.
One of those is Prince William Board of County Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart (R), who recently launched an exploratory committee as the first step in a bid for Bolling's job.
On Monday, Bolling said Stewart and two others had previously promised not to run if Bolling decided to seek re-election.
"I expect that they'll probably honor that," Bolling said of Stewart, former state Sen. Jay O'Brien and former state Sen. Emmet Hanger.
O'Brien confirmed on Monday that he will not seek the post, according to Bolling.
"They're all good guys. I would love to have their support," he added.
Stewart could not immediately be reached for comment.
Bolling said his decision to run for re-election was financial and he denied that it was based on Attorney General Bob McDonnell's (R) announcement that he would run for governor.
In Virginia, the lieutenant governor is generally the presumed party choice for the governor's race, though when the lieutenant governor and the attorney general are of the same party, a primary fight sometimes ensues. Last time that happened was when Attorney General Mark Earley took on Lt. Gov. John Hager for the Republican nomination for governor in 2001. Earley beat out Hager for the nomination but Democrat Mark Warner eventually won the top seat.
With McDonnell seeking the governor's seat and Bolling hoping to just stay put, that won't happen this year.
Bolling explained his decision by saying that he can't put in the time and money it would take to run for governor.
"I'm not an independently wealthy guy," he said. "I have to work for a living just like everybody else."
Since the lieutenant governor's job is a part-time position, Bolling also owns an insurance business and said he can't afford to give up income and spend months on the road campaigning.
"In many ways we would have liked to have embarked on that campaign but those are the cards that life deals you," he said, while not ruling out a future run. "I would like to be governor of Virginia someday. I've made no secret about that."
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