Posted on 02/13/2009 6:40:41 AM PST by Corin Stormhands
For Immediate Release: February 13, 2009 Contact: Phil Cox phil.cox@bobmcdonnell.com (804) 612.9111
McDonnell Announces Ed Gillespie to Serve as General Chairman of his Gubernatorial Campaign - Former RNC Chairman; A Principal Drafter of "Contract with America"; Former Counselor to the President-
Richmond- Attorney General Bob McDonnell announced today that Ed Gillespie, former Chairman of the Republican National Committee and former Counselor to the President of the United States, will serve as General Chairman of his campaign for Governor.
In announcing Gillespie's leadership position McDonnell noted, "Ed has a record of winning tough campaigns and helping to develop and enact policies that make life better for our citizens. Ed has served at the very highest level in The White House and Congress. And Ed is a Virginian. He has served as Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, he is raising his family right near where I grew up in the Mt. Vernon area of Fairfax County, and he understands, as a policy maker and as a father, the challenges and the opportunities facing the Commonwealth. I am honored to have Ed on board, and I look forward to working with him to bring our message of new jobs, greater opportunity and renewed prosperity to every voter in Virginia."
Speaking about today's announcement Gillespie remarked, "Bob McDonnell is the right person to lead Virginia forward in these challenging times. His record of bringing people together to get things done is exactly what we need right now. I've been fortunate to be involved in many consequential elections over the past 25 years, and have gotten to know some great leaders. Virginia's gubernatorial race this year is a consequential election, and Bob McDonnell is a great leader. Bob is in this campaign because he cares deeply about Virginia, and he has a record of service and accomplishments to prove it. He will bring jobs and opportunity to every corner of our Commonwealth, make health care more accessible and help keep us safe. I'm honored to chair his campaign committee, proud of his record as our attorney general, and fortunate he's my friend. I'm looking forward to Bob McDonnell being our governor, and am going to do everything I can between now and November to make sure that he is."
To learn more about the McDonnell campaign please visit: www.bobmcdonnell.com
About Ed Gillespie
Ed Gillespie most recently served as Counselor to the President in the last 18 months of the Bush Administration. During his service at the White House he helped handle a series of historic events that included the 2007 surge of US troops in Iraq, the response to the financial markets collapse in the Fall of 2008 and the peaceful transition of presidential power in 2009. More than a year before taking the Counselor title, Gillespie had led the successful Supreme Court confirmation efforts of Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito.
A former Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Gillespie in 2004 became the first GOP chairman in 80 years to preside over his party's winning the White House, House and Senate. His aggressive outreach to African-American and Hispanic voters was a highlight of his tenure, and he was known for being an effective advocate on television and talk radio shows.
One of a small number of Americans to have had offices in the West Wing of the White House and within steps of the Dome of the US Capitol, Gillespie was a long-time aide to former House Majority Leader Dick Armey. As policy and communications director for the House Republican Conference, he was a principal drafter of the Contract with America, the 1994 campaign platform on which Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years. He edited the book version of Contract with America, which reached number two on the New York Times' bestsellers list. Ed Gillespie is also the author of Winning Right: Campaign Politics and Conservative Policies, published by Simon and Schuster in Spring 2006.
Gillespie serves on the board of trustees of his alma mater, Catholic University of America. As a student at CUA, Gillespie got his first job on Capitol Hill-as a Senate parking lot attendant. He met Cathy, his wife of 21 years, on a congressional league softball team. They have three children: John (18), Carrie (15) and Mollie (12) and live near the historic Mt. Vernon Mansion in Fairfax County, Virginia.
Virginia Governor’s race ping.
Would that be the same Ed Gillespie who has been cheering Zero on for the past year?
Why? He seems to have pretty solid credentials....is there something I’m missing about him?
I like McDonnell and believe he’d be a fine governor, but the way VA is trending, I’m thinking the races for governor and U.S. senator will be settled in the dem primary.
Gillespie is a youthful version of Charley Black and Rick Bond.
Any other Rep. choices in VA?
“A former Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Gillespie in 2004 became the first GOP chairman in 80 years to preside over his party’s winning the White House, House and Senate.”
Then promptly lost it two years later.
VA has been trending Blue, but recent polls show McDonnell winning against any of his announced Dem opponents. The next senate race isn’t till 2012
We could all buy an island somewhere.
I’m in. Where?
I dunno, but keep in mind, if we leave the U.S. we give up that big 8K tax credit. ;-)
All suggestions welcome.
Oh man, I don’t know now. I mean, a whole $8K.....
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