The 2009 Virginia attorney general election took place in Virginia on November 3, 2009. Incumbent Attorney General Bob McDonnell was eligible for re-election, but instead opted to successfully

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

for

Governor of Virginia The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. The Governor (United States), governor is head of the Government_of_Virginia#Executive_branch, executive branch ...

. McDonnell resigned from his position in 2009 to run for governor, being succeeded by his deputy, Bill Mims. The Republican party nominated State Senator Ken Cuccinelli, who easily defeated the Democratic candidate, Delegate Steve Shannon. Concurrently, Republicans won the other two statewide offices and made gains in the House of Delegates. Cuccinelli would later make an unsuccessful run for governor in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

. This would be the last election until

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

that a Republican would win the office of Attorney General in Virginia.

Republican nomination

Candidates

Nominated at convention

Ken Cuccinelli Kenneth Thomas "Cooch” Cuccinelli II ( ; born July 30, 1968) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security from 2019 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Pa ...

, Member of the

Virginia Senate The Senate of Virginia is the upper house of the Virginia General Assembly. The Senate is composed of 40 senators representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts. The Senate is presided over by the lieutenant governor of Virg ...

from the 37th district

Defeated at convention

John L. Brownlee John Leslie Brownlee is an American lawyer. He was the United States Attorney for the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, Western District of Virginia from 2001 to 2008. United States attorney Investigation o ...

, former

United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia The United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia (in case citations, W.D. Va.) is a United States district court. Appeals from the Western District of Virginia are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth ...

(payment required) * Dave Foster, former member of the

Arlington County Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

School Board

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

* Steve Shannon, Member of the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

from the 35th district and former Assistant

Commonwealth's Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

for

Fairfax County, Virginia Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. With a population of 1,150,309 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most p ...

Withdrew

* John P. Fishwick Jr., attorney

References

{{2009 United States elections 2009 Virginia elections Virginia Attorney General elections

Republican nomination

Candidates

Nominated at convention

Defeated at convention

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Withdrew

See also

References