The Attorney General of Virginia is an executive office in the Government of Virginia. The position is considered the third highest of the three state government offices elected statewide. Attorneys General are elected for a four-year term in the year following a Presidential election (1993, 1997, 2001, etc.). There are no term limits restricting the number of terms someone can serve as Attorney General. Bob McDonnell currently holds the position. McDonnell ran for the office in a November 2005 election against Democrat Creigh Deeds. Though the election was November 8, 2005, the results showed McDonnell had won by less than 400 votes out of 1.95 million cast. The close vote triggered an automatic recount, which took place on December 20. The recount simply revealed 37 more votes for McDonnell, confirming him as the Attorney General-Elect. Official language(s) English Capital Richmond Largest city Virginia Beach Area  Ranked 35th  - Total 42,793 sq mi (110,862 km²)  - Width 200 miles (320 km)  - Length 430 miles (690 km)  - % water 7. ... This article is about the political process. ... A term limit is a provision of a constitution, statute, or bylaw which limits the number of terms a person may serve in a particular elected office. ... Robert F. McDonnell, (born June 15, 1954 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is the Attorney General-Elect of Virginia. ... Ongoing events • Abramoff-Reed gambling scandal • Al Jazeera bombing memo • Avian influenza (H5N1) outbreak • Black sites scandal • Conservative leadership race (UK) • Fuel prices • Irans nuclear program • Jilin chemical plant explosions • Kashmir earthquake • Malawi food crisis • Malaysian prisoner abuse scandal • New Delhi bombings investigation • Niger food crisis • North Indian cyclone... Creigh Deeds Robert Creigh Deeds (born January 4, 1958) is a Virginia lawyer and politician who serves in the Senate of Virginia and unsucessfully ran for Attorney General of Virginia in 2005 as a Democrat. ... November 8 is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 53 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Responsibilities

The Attorney General heads the Office of the Attorney General, also known as the Department of Law. The Attorney General and their Office have several duties and powers granted by state law. These include:

• Providing legal advice and representation in court for the Governor and the state government in general
• Providing legal advice, official opinions, to members of the Virginia General Assembly and local government officials
• Defending the state in cases of criminal appeals and suits against the state
• Defending the constitutionality of state laws
• Collecting money owed to various state institutions

In order to fulfill these responsibilities, the Attorney General oversees one of the largest law firms in Virginia. The full time staff includes a chief deputy attorney general, five deputy attorneys general and about 150 assistant attorneys general, 40 additional full time lawyers appointed as special counsel to particular agencies, and 140 legal assistants, legal secretaries and other professional support staff. The Office of the Attorney General is structured very much like a private law firm, with sections devoted to legal specialties. The Virginia General Assembly is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a U.S. state. ...

The Attorney General is second in the line of gubernatorial succession. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Governor of Virginia, the Governor is replaced by the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. However, if there is also a vacancy in the office of Lieutenant Governor, then the Attorney General becomes Governor. Tim Kaine, the current Governor The Governor of Virginia serves as the chief executive of the Commonwealth of Virginia for a four-year term. ... The Lieutenant Governor is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Virginia. ...

Political Ambitions

Because it is one of only three statewide elected offices, the post of Attorney General is seen as a stepping-stone to higher office, especially Governor of Virginia. Along with the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, the Attorney General is seen as one of two candidates in contention to replace the sitting Governor. Following the 2001 election of Governor Mark Warner, it was widely believed that the 2005 election would be between then-Lieutenant Governor Tim Kaine and then-Attorney General Jerry Kilgore, which is precisely what occurred, with Kaine winning and becoming Virginia's 70th Governor. A similar scenario occurred in 1981, when then-Lieutenant Governor Chuck Robb defeated then-Attorney General Marshall Coleman and again in 1997 when then-Attorney General Jim Gilmore defeated then-Lieutenant Governor Don Beyer. Tim Kaine, the current Governor The Governor of Virginia serves as the chief executive of the Commonwealth of Virginia for a four-year term. ... The Lieutenant Governor is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Virginia. ... Mark Robert Warner (born December 15, 1954) is an American politician from the U.S. state of Virginia and a member of the Democratic Party. ... Timothy Michael Kaine (born February 26, 1958 in St. ... Charles Spittal Chuck Robb (born June 26, 1939) is an American politician. ... Donald S. Beyer, Jr. ...

When separate parties capture the Attorney General and Lieutenant Governor's offices, these officeholders are seen as the clear frontrunners for their parties' nominations in the next gubernatorial election. When the same party captures both offices, intraparty rivalries and rifts can develop around which person should be the next gubernatorial nominee. For example, in 2001 there was a bitter intraparty battle in the Republican party between Attorney General Mark Earley, who was strongly backed by social conservatives, and Lieutenant Governor John H. Hager, who was backed by other factions of the party. Earley prevailed, but Hager and many of his supporters gave only perfunctory endorsements of Earley or openly supported the successful Democratic nominee Mark Warner. When one party captures neither office, it is left without a frontrunner for the next gubernatorial election. However, this allowed two of the most popular recent governors, Warner and George Allen, to win their parties' nominations and the subsequent elections without having held state-wide office. Mark L. Earley is an American politician. ... John Henry Hager John Henry Hager (August 28, 1936 - ) was born in Durham, North Carolina. ... George Felix Allen (born March 8, 1952) is a former Republican United States Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the son of former NFL head coach George Allen. ...

It is a Virginia tradition that Attorneys General who are running for Governor resign from office before the conclusion of the four-year term for which they are elected. This has provided political fodder for their opponents, with Mark Earley criticized early in 2001 for not resigning (though he would resign in June of that year), with critics saying he could not campaign and serve effectively as Attorney General simultaneously, while Jerry Kilgore was criticized for resigning when he did so in February of 2005, with critics saying he was abandoning his responsibilities to campaign. Some Attorneys General have not resigned, including Marshall Coleman in 1981. When an Attorney General resigns, it is the responsibility of the Virginia General Assembly to elect a replacement to finish the term of office. Often the Chief Deputy Attorney General is chosen, as in the case of Judith Jagdmann. The Lieutenant Governor is not expected to resign as the official duties of the office are very limited. The Virginia General Assembly is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Virginia, a U.S. state. ...

Recent Attorneys General

• J. Marshall Coleman (Republican) - January, 1978 – January, 1982
• Mary Sue Terry (Democrat) - 1986 – January, 1993 (resigned to run for Governor)
• Stephen D. Rosenthal (Democrat) - 1993 – 1994 (replaced Terry)
• James S. Gilmore, III (Republican) - 1996 – June 11, 1997 (resigned to run for Governor)
• Richard Cullen - June 11, 1997 – January 17, 1998 (replaced Gilmore)
• Mark Earley (Republican) - January 17, 1998 – June 4, 2001 (resigned to run for Governor)
• Randolph A. Beales - July 11, 2001 – January 12, 2002 (replaced Earley)
• Jerry W. Kilgore (Republican) - January 12, 2002 – February 1, 2005 (resigned to run for Governor)
• Judith Jagdmann - January 27, 2005 – January 14, 2006 (replaced Kilgore)
• Robert F. McDonnell (Republican) - January 14, 2006 –