Here’s a roundup of some interesting articles throughout the Virginia blogosphere.
Bearing Drift has a roundup from all of the GOP Congressional Campaigns in Virginia. It’s spot-on analysis.
The General Assembly passed legislation to grant Virginians the freedom to decide whether or not they have health insurance. Tom White over at Virginia Right! has a great post up on the health care issue.
What is it with the General Assembly and their obsession with raising fees this session? The budget deficits have caused great discussions and debate about fee increases to generate revenue. Family Foundation Blog has a great post up encouraging the General Assembly to tame its appetite for these increases.
Could a tax hike on businesses in Virginia be enacted? According to the rightwingliberal at Virginia Virtucon, the House of Delegates is strongly considering the tax hike, while Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling believes that a tax hike would break promises of a general tax increase.
Meanwhile, The Washington Post’s Virginia Politics Blog reports that hundreds protested an Arlington Delegate’s invitation for a Fairfax Imam to deliver the opening prayer during the House session.
This is a live report from Richmond, Va. In less than an hour and a half, the Commonwealth of Virginia will have a new Governor and Attorney General.
Right now, there are several dignitaries in attendance to witness the swearing-in. Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley is here, in addition to Virginia’s former Governors.
I will post pictures and updates on this post throughout the morning.
Update: 11:33 a.m. The stands are beginning to fill with people. The Governor will deliver his remarks at 12:30 p.m. His remarks reference his upbringing in Fairfax County and creating opportunities for all Virginians.
Update: 12:33 p.m. Governor Bob McDonnell is delivering his inaugural address. You can watch it live at McDonnell’s inaugural site
Governor-elect Bob McDonnell, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, and Attorney General-elect Ken Cuccinelli will be sworn into office on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010 at noon at the State Capitol in Richmond. The inauguration is open to the public. Tickets may be purchased for the Balls and other official events in Richmond and other VA cities.
Today, two polls were released showing that November 3rd could provide a GOP victory for all three statewide offices. Both the Survey USA and the Public Policy Polling polls show McDonnell, Bolling, and Cuccinelli leading their opponents by double digit percentages.
Well, we are really getting into the home stretch for the 2009 elections. Here are the newspaper endorsements that each of the Republican candidates have received.
According to a recent Public Policy Polling poll, all three Republican statewide candidates now hold comfortable leads over their opponents.
Bob McDonnell is leading Creigh Deeds, 52-40%. This poll also concurs that the negative attacks by Deeds against McDonnell’s thesis are not working with Virginia voters.
In the race for Lieutenant Governor, Bill Bolling still leads Jody Wagner. Bolling had a 49-39 lead over Wagner.
Meanwhile, Ken Cuccinelli is really holding a wide margin lead over Steve Shannon in the Attorney General’s race. Cuccinelli is leading Shannon, 52-37.
All of these votes have a margin of error of 3.8%.
Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling has released another TV ad in his bid for re-election highlighting his opponent, Jody Wagner’s record, when she was Secretary of Finance for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Wagner led the Commonwealth into budget shortfalls due to her overly optimistic finance projections.
