VA AG candidates name transition teams

[Heather MC]

AG candidates name transition teams
Still locked in tight contest, Herring holds on to lead



Posted: Thursday, November 14, 2013 7:06 am | Updated: 7:28 am, Thu Nov 14, 2013.
Richmond Times-Dispatch


RICHMOND — Democrat Mark Herring and Republican Mark Obenshain, locked in a razor-thin contest for attorney general, both named transition teams Wednesday.
The State Board of Elections updated the count to reflect provisional ballots from Fairfax County. Herring now leads by 164 votes out of more than 2.2 million cast. Herring had declared victory late Tuesday night, saying “voters in Virginia have spoken.” At a news conference in Richmond Wednesday, Obenshain termed Herring’s declaration “bravado” and said the Democrat should resign from his state Senate seat if he is so confident.
Obenshain said talk of a recount is premature, pending the Nov. 25 vote certification by the State Board of Elections.
Obenshain also said he is not concerned about conflict of interest questions Democrats are raising because Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is calling on supporters to help fund Obenshain’s potential recount. Cuccinelli’s office advises and counsels state agencies — including the elections board, which would be in charge of a recount.
State Sen. A. Donald McEachin, D-Henrico, on Wednesday called on Cuccinelli to “stop tainting the electoral process and to refrain from fundraising for Senator Obenshain.”
Cuccinelli has a critical role to play to help ensure Virginians have confidence in the outcome, McEachin said in a statement.
“Attorney General Cuccinelli needs to take his responsibilities seriously in this process and refrain from his overt and extreme partisanship,” he said.


Obenshain said the attorney general is bound by his ethical obligations.
“I am confident that the attorney general and his office will do a good job at making sure that the rules are fairly and impartially applied and that the legal advice that is given by the attorney general’s office is based on the law,” he said. Herring said in a statement that “transitions are about new beginnings, and this transition will be a return to fundamentals. We will get back to putting ideology and partisanship aside, and putting the law andVirginians first.”
The five co-chairs of Herring’s transition team are: Gabriel Morgan, sheriff of Newport News; Anne Holton of Richmond, wife of Sen. Timothy M. Kaine, former first lady of Virginia, and a former Richmond juvenile and domestic relations district court judge; Michael Doucette, commonwealth’s attorney of Lynchburg; Jeffrey Novak of Prince William County, national director of state public policy and assistant general counsel at AOL, and member of the Northern Virginia Technology Council; Shannon Taylor, Henrico County commonwealth’s attorney. Herring said David Hallock, deputy chief of staff and legislative director for Sen. Mark R. Warner, would lead his transition.
Obenshain, a state senator from Harrisonburg, said “the responsible thing to do is to prepare for a potential transition” “given the “historically narrow margin.”

http://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/article_2172c61c-4d25-11e3-be33-001a4bcf6878.html

[JaneyVee]

1. Transition teams? Obenshain lost. The only place he should be transitioning

Is from the campaign trail back to his house.

[Heather MC]

4. You would think but apparently he can't count

[Dawson Leery]

2. Since when does the loser (Obenshain) set up a transition team?

[Heather MC]

3. That's what makes this so funny

Tea Turds live in their own reality

[Dawson Leery]

5. The right wing entertainment complex makes that possible.

[hrmjustin]

6. This is to be expected. I remember 8 years ago when the republican won the

AG race in VA by 300 votes the Dem candidate also set up a transition team.