Kaine Selection Could Cause Political Quirk

If presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama selects Virginia Governor Tim Kaine as his running mate, it could set up a potential quirk in Virginia politics next year. Should that Democratic ticket be victorious this November, Kaine would have to resign from his current office by January 20, 2009, when he would be inaugurated as Vice President of the United States. Upon his resignation, Republican Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling would assume the office of Virginia’s Governor.

However, it just so happens that Virginia conducts its next round of statewide elections, including contests for the offices of governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general, in 2009. Campaigning for presidential and statewide elections now starts more than two years in advance. In keeping with this recent trend, the campaign for Virginia’s top three offices is already well under way. Regardless of whether Kaine becomes the next Vice President, he cannot succeed himself as Governor. Virginia law does not permit its governors to serve consecutive terms. Therefore, Virginia's races for Governor are always open and usually include the state's sitting Lieutenant Governor and/or Attorney General. Several months ago, Bolling decided to opt out of the gubernatorial race for 2009. Instead, he deferred to current state Attorney General Bob McDonnell to carry the Republican mantle next fall in the race for Virginia’s next Governor. Bolling settled on running for re-election as Lt. Governor.

Now, if Kaine becomes Vice President in January and Bolling subsequently becomes Governor of Virginia, we could have a highly irregular and virtually unheard-of situation in which an incumbent elected official would be running for a lower office. In this case, it would be Virginia’s sitting Governor running for Lt. Governor. However, many pundits are now speculating that Bolling, with the acquiescence of McDonnell, would change his mind and decide to run for governor in 2009, should circumstances result in his promotion to that office in January.