News Article

Can Virginia's New Leaders Be a Team?

Sunday, January 08, 2006
Tyler Whitley
Richmond Times-Dispatch

Gov.-elect Timothy M. Kaine will not always find himself on the same page as his two fellow office-holders in the executive branch after they are sworn into office Saturday.

Kaine is a Democrat, while Lt. Gov.-elect Bill Bolling and Attorney General-elect Robert F. McDonnell are Republicans.

Nevertheless, Kaine and Bolling have a lot in common. Bolling will replace him as lieutenant governor. Like Kaine, Bolling comes out of local government. Before being elected to the Virginia Senate in 1995, he was chairman of the Hanover County Board of Supervisors. Kaine was mayor of Richmond and a member of City Council before being elected lieutenant governor in 2001.

The two men met in early December and promised to cooperate when possible.

"When the governor succeeds, Virginia succeeds," Bolling said.

Kaine said he wanted Bolling to be part of his "emergency loop" so he could bring his local-government experience to bear on natural disasters and other catastrophes.

As presiding officer of the Senate, Bolling conceivably could issue rulings that would block Kaine's agenda.

Kaine and McDonnell have something in common, too. Both are Roman Catholics. Only a handful of Catholics have held statewide office in Virginia, a predominantly Protestant state.

None of the three is a Virginia native. Kaine, 47, was born in St. Paul, Minn., the son of a welder, and grew up in Kansas City, Kan. He came to Richmond after marrying Anne Holton, the daughter of Linwood Holton, who was governor of Virginia from 1970 to 1974.

Bolling was born in Sistersville, W.Va., the son of a coal miner, and came to the Richmond area to work in the insurance business. McDonnell was born in Philadelphia, the son of a military officer, but grew up in Northern Virginia. Bolling and McDonnell have the same birth date, June 15. Bolling is 48 and McDonnell is 51.

The new governor will make $175,000 a year. The lieutenant governor's job is a part-time one. His only official duties are to preside over the Senate and succeed the governor in case of death. Bolling will make $36,321 a year. McDonnell will make $150,000 annually.

Kaine is a lawyer who was a director of the McCandlish Kaine law firm in Richmond before becoming lieutenant governor. He was on Richmond City Council from 1994 to 2001. He has three children.

Bolling is an insurance consultant. He represented Hanover and several other counties in the Senate since 1995. The Bollings have two children.

McDonnell was a U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and businessman before becoming a lawyer. He represented Virginia Beach in the House of Delegates for 14 years and has been chairman of the influential House Courts of Justice Committee. He is married and has five children, including a daughter who is serving in Iraq.

For additional information contact Randy Marcus at 804-786-2078 or 804-814-7117 (cell) or randy.marcus@governor.virginia.gov.