Dissatisfied with the two front-runners in the 2013 gubernatorial race, a group of Virginia businessmen is looking to support a third contender to run as an independent — and the name most often mentioned is Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling,
Politico reports.
Some donors see Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli as too conservative, while Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe is viewed as a deeply embedded Washington insider.
Bolling — who dropped out of the GOP nominating contest in 2012 — has set a mid-March deadline for deciding on an independent campaign, and said Monday there’s a “50-50” chance he will enter the race.
Virginia technology executive Bobbi Kilberg said she would like to see a GOP candidate who’s not as extreme as Cuccinelli.
“I think the business community clearly would like to see a candidate who’s more in the mainstream of the Republican Party and more in the mainstream of the Commonwealth,” Kilberg told Politico. “I would welcome a run by Bill Bolling.
“I think that Bill Bolling is a strong, conservative Republican who is in the mainstream of Virginia policy and politics, and I think the business community would welcome his race,” she said.
Bolling has said he’s been speaking to potential donors since the end of the legislative session this weekend to gauge financial support for a possible campaign.
The lieutenant governor also said he has done his own private polling that shows more than 60 percent of Virginians would be open to considering an independent candidate for governor in 2013.
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