Republicans have the governor’s seat, the attorney general etc. in Virginia and the GOP sets the rules for its own primary, the Rats aren’t running the show.
The fingerprints of the RINO insider establishment are all over this.
The requirements to be on either the R or D primary ballot in VA are set by statute. That would be the state legislature, where the majority goes back and forth between the parties. The RPV’s only role is to certify the candidates who met the requirements. The Governor, Lt. Gov and AG, in their official capacities, are irrelevant to this process.
These requirements have been in effect for several presidential election cycles. In ‘08, six (6) GOP candidates managed to get on the VA GOP presidential ballot. Something went terribly wrong in the Perry/Gingrich ground game.