Richmonder Who Should Become Virginia’s Next Governor

First Place: Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli

Second Place: Anyone But Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli

Third Place: Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling

Ken Cuccinelli may not exactly be a Richmonder (he’s been living in Prince William County), but he certainly is well known among his critics, including pro-choice advocates, gay rights groups, political moderates and television celebrities such as Rachel Maddow and Jon Stewart, who enjoy a good laugh (or cry) at his expense. Tea party types and other social hard righters swoon over the in-your-face attorney general who’s challenged every liberal agenda item on the list. He has a step on becoming governor over Democratic fundraising maven Terry McAuliffe, as a recent poll shows. Curiously, enough voters in Style Weekly’s Best of Richmond poll didn’t write McAuliffe on their ballots to push him to the top. Instead, they voted for “anyone but Cuccinelli” — their words, not ours. The attorney general lately has been caught up in Giftgate and Chefgate. His gifts from Star Scientific’s boss amount to $18,000 and ties to fired Executive Mansion chef Todd Schneider have forced himself to recuse himself from legal cases. And there is some wishful thinking in this survey on Bolling. He could have made a difference but quit, lacking election cash.

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