Decision Virginia

Ryan Nobles - bio | email

Despite all of the noise Doug Wilder has made during his time as Richmond’s Mayor, the charismatic, groundbreaking politician appears to be going out quietly.

Wilder will serve one more day on the job as Richmond’s Mayor. Dwight Jones is scheduled to be sworn in to the position tomorrow in a low key ceremony.

Tonight on NBC12, we will take a look back at the 4 year roller coaster that was the Wilder Term.

Among the highlights we will feature:

*Wilder’s dramatic electoral victory

*His shake-up of city administration

*The appointment of Rodney Monroe and the subsequent controversy surrounding his degree from VCU.

*His role in the Obama campaign.

*The controversy surrounding his high level administrative aides.

*The attempt to evict the school administration from city hall.

*His constant battle for power with City Council.

We also speculate as to where Mr. Wilder could land in his post-mayoral life. (I welcome your comments as to where you think he will go next. )

After this evening’s broadcast, I’ll post the video of our story.

To see video from our 11pm story click here. Read the rest of this entry »

The Roanoke Times is reporting that Tom Perriello’s victory over Virgil Goode in the 5th district is now official. A three judge panel declared Perriello the winner by 745 votes after Goode called for a recount.

The Times has already posted comments from both the winner and the loser.

Goode had held the seat more than a decade. Perriello had already begun the transition process.

Governor Tim Kaine announced his plans to amend the state’s biennial budget. Among some ceremonial things like reducing his own salary, the Governor announced some deep spending cuts, a series of fee increases and a rollback of the state’s workforce.

This new round of cuts amounts to about $400 million dollars and the Governor plans on cutting the state’s workforce by about 1,500 positions. Education, health care and transportation are all part of the cutbacks.

Republicans, who have already reacted negatively to the cutbacks and fee increases the Governor’s office leaked prior to today’s address, continued that drumbeat today. Attorney General Bob McDonnell,  a candidate for Governor, reacted to Kaine’s proposals by saying “Some are sound and I will support them. Others I do not support.”

McDonnell and republicans and the legislature specifically pointed to Kaine’s proposals to increase spending. He has proposed increases to programs that would appear to have additional need during a downturn in the economy. Kaine is calling for increases to the Virginia Opportunity Fund and a increase for funding for Virginia’s food banks.

You can read all the details behind Governor Kaine’s proposals by clicking here: http://www.governor.virginia.gov/

We are continuing to follow this story and will have complete coverage in tonight’s newscasts. You can see Jola Szubielski’s report from our noon news by clicking here.

Read the rest of this entry »

Ryan Nobles - bio | email

Attorney General Bob McDonnell held a press conference call today as the Attorney General, not as a candidate for governor, where he outlined a series of election reforms he thinks Virginia should employ prior to the November elections. The calls for reform come in the wake of this past election. McDonnell said in a release that while democracy is “alive and well in Virginia…for our democratic process to stay healthy we must constantly seek prudent reforms and improvements based on what we learn each election.”

Among the changes McDonnell is calling for:

*Increasing the number of polling locations

*Allowing voters to where campaign paraphernalia to their polling location. 

*Allowing first responders to vote absentee. 

He outlined a number of measures to ensure “voter integrity” as well. His entire release, with details connected to his proposals can be found by clicking here. 

Read the rest of this entry »

Del. Brian Moran is set to announce that he will resign his seat in the House of Delegates to concentrate on his campaign for Governor.

Moran represents a district in Northern Virginia and a special election could take place to replace him as soon as mid-January. It will also set off scramble for his leadership position in the General Assembly. (Moran currently serves as the Democratic leader in the House of Delegates.)

The candidate is expected to release a video statement in their near future with the details behind his decision. I’ll link to it as soon as it becomes available.

**UPDATE** In the statement the Moran camp released announcing his impending resignation, they pointed out a number of different examples of other gubernatorial candidates stepping down from their positions to concentrate full time on their campaigns. One of the examples was the following:

**In 2005, Attorney General Jerry Kilgore resigned from his position to run full time in his general election campaign for governor

That prompted me to inquire as to whether the current republican Attorney General who also happens to be running for Governor, plans on stepping down from his seat. Here is what his spokesman J. Tucker Martin had to say:

“We wish Delegate Moran the very best. We are sure this was a hard decision for him, but one that he felt he needed to make. We respect his decision and wish him the best of luck with the campaign.

We have not made any announcements regarding the Attorney General’s future course of action, and will not be making any such announcement today.”

 I am sure no one will hold him to it, but when asked directly today by the Times-Dispatch’s Tyler Whitley if he is interested in running for president in 2012, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal flatly said “I’m not”. 

Of course there have been other candidates for president (namely the guy ready to take the job) who issued outright denials and then went on to seek the highest office in the land. Jindal answered no quickly and then went on to talk about how at this point republicans shouldn’t be gearing up for 2012, they should trying to find ways to work with and support President-Elect Obama.

Jindal also talked extensively about how republicans need to find ways to build bridges with the opposing party, as opposed to knocking democrats down. He told us that he believes that at this point people are sick of presidential politics and he believes Americans want to see their leaders govern, not campaign.

Gov. Jindal also spoke very highly of the man he was there to support Attorney General Bob McDonnell. They both talked about McDonnell’s recent trip to Louisiana and Jindal specifically spoke about McDonnell’s commitment to public safety and fiscal responsibility. 

You can see video of Jindal’s visit to Richmond by clicking here. 

Read the rest of this entry »

The winners of the November election have yet to take office, but today the race for Governor in Virginia will be up to almost full speed. Two of the major candidates have important announcements and events planned today in support of their campaign. 

11:30am: Attorney General Bob McDonnell (R) hosts the popular Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal in Richmond. Jindal will appear with McDonnell at a press event at the Jefferson Hotel and then later headline a private fundraiser at the Commonwealth Club. 

I will be at the event and will have up to the minute coverage on my twitter page and a full recap later today on NBC12 and Decision Virginia. 

2pm: Del. Brian Moran (D) will hold a press conference call where he will announce another major endorsement. Already Moran has picked up the nod of prominent party faithful, including the Democratic Party of Virginia’s governing body, the majority of elected Democrats in Loudoun County, and Democratic leaders in Martinsville. He calls this series of endorsements his “Virginia Values Tour”. 

I will have a breakdown of the Moran announcement on-air and online as well.

The polling has begun in the race for Governor in Virginia, and at this point it tells us very little about what is ahead. Rasmussen released the poll yesterday and it was about what you would expect from a poll taken this early in the campaign. 

Here are the highlights:

*Del. Brian Moran is the only democrat right now with a lead over republican Attorney General Bob McDonnell. (41%-37%)

*However, Sen. Creigh Deeds, the only democrat to have previously run statewide, is the leading choice of democrats as their candidate. has the highest favorability rating of the democrats. The poll does not test the candidates head to head. (He also is tied with McDonnell 39-39% in a head to head match-up)

*But, the best known democrat in the race is Terry McAuliffe, but he is trailing McDonnell head to head. (41%-36%).  

There is just enough in this very comprehensive poll to give each candidate reason to believe that they have a legitimate chance of winning. 

Perhaps some democratic leaders were hoping for a bit more clarity, but I am sure that each of the candidates are doing their own polling, which probably says much of the same things. Hence the reason, that at this point no one appears willing to back down.

Ryan Nobles - bio | email

In what will be an appearance laced with implications for not only the 2009 election, but the 2012 election as well, Attorney General Bob McDonnell will host Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal at a fundraiser at the Jefferson Hotel this Wednesday.   **UPDATE** Gov. Jindal will appear with the Attorney General at a press conference at the Jefferson, the fundraiser will be held at the Commonwealth Club. 

Jindal, while by no means a household name, is a rising star in the republican party. He is a young, Indian-American conservative Governor from the south who was ushered into office while his fellow republicans were getting booted out, in races across the country. He was recently floated as a potential Vice-Presidential running mate for Senator John McCain and is widely expected to consider a run for president in 2012 or 2016.

Jindal’s stock only improved with his careful stewardship of hurricane Gustav, which slamed the gulf coast and his state in particular, over the summer.

There is no doubt, that his visit here to Virginia, a newly minted swing state will only begin to fuel the speculation of a potential presidential run even more.

The visit is also a major boon to McDonnell because it shows that he is making serious inroads with big time players on the national republican scene. It is no secret that the GOP is still smarting from this past election cycle and many view McDonnell as the path to their respectability. To bring a name this big, this early, shows his campaign is already in full stride, a full 11 months before voters go to the polls.

We will have full coverage of the Jindal visit to Richmond here and on NBC12 on Wednesday.

Current Richmond City Councilwoman Delores McQuinn has captured the democratic nomination for the special election to replace Mayor-Elect Dwight Jones in the House of Delegates.

McQuinn had the support of the Mayor-Elect and should cruise to victory in the special election, in the democrat- leaning 70th district.

The Councilwoman captured 398 votes to Henrico Attorney Carlos Brown’s 82 votes.

The special election is scheduled for January 6th.

At this point, no Republican has expressed interest in running.