Bill Bolling is the former Lt Gov of Va. Also the de facto head of the GOP establishment in Va. If you’re looking for the puller of the strings here in Va, Bolling is your man. He decided to leave office to run for gov. Everything was all nice and arranged, and that probably would have been that. Well,the Attorney General by the name of Ken Cuccinelli decided to run as well. Uh oh. No carefully arranged handover.
At about the same time this was happening, the libertarians were able to stage in effect a hostile takeover of the state gop. They were of the belief, and I think they’re correct, that conventions pick more principled and conservative candidates. They insisted on a convention rather than a primary for the open gubernatorial seat. Bill Bolling couldn’t prevail at a convention, he knew it, and he withdrew from the race. Ken Cuccinelli or the Cooch as he’s known in Va. went on to run for governor.