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A question ( mainly for VA Red Staters): Has there ever been a serious attempt to remove the one term limit for governor?

By: gawken (Diary)  |  October 26th, 2011 at 11:32 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Been reading about the governor’s successes, and popularity, and the excellent prospects the GOP has in the state legislature this November. I’m curious as to how Virginians feel about limiting the governor to one term, and if there has ever been a serious discussion or effort to amend the state Constitution?

And if anyone has  worthwhile links to articles/discussions on the topic, it’d be appreciated.

COMMENTS

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  • Danielle Davis (ocleverone)

    to 2 four year terms but it died, I think in committee.

  • MikeG

    I think Danielle’s response pretty well captures the flavor of things here in Virginia. The one-term limit for governor is something that doesn’t really gain a lot of traction here. It’s not a pressing issue on the minds of voters. People seem happy with the way things work.

    It did come up once or twice during the Warner and Kaine administrations, but it didn’t go anywhere. Basically, the governor would have to surrender some executive branch power to the General Assembly in order to win support for ending term limits, and no governor so far has been interested in doing so. Plus ending term limits would reduce the opportunity for ambitious state legislators to run for statewide office, since the existing Lt. Governor or Attorney General usually takes a crack at the Governor’s Mansion after one term (Tim Kaine was Lt. Gov before Gov, Bob McDonnell was AG for one term before Gov, and current AG Ken Cuccinelli is expected to be the GOP’s pick for Gov in 2013). Not much incentive anywhere for change.