Robert Francis McDonnell (born June 15, 1954) is an American politician, professor, and former military officer who served as the 71st governor of Virginia from 2010 to 2014. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 44th attorney general of Virginia and as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates.
Born in Philadelphia, McDonnell was a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserve. He was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1992 to 2006 and served as attorney general of Virginia from 2006 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, McDonnell was elected governor of Virginia after using the campaign slogan "Bob's for Jobs." He defeated Democratic state Senator Creigh Deeds by a 17-point margin in the 2009 general election, which was marked by the severe recession of the late 2000s.
After taking office as governor, McDonnell advocated privatization and promoted offshore drilling for Virginia. He moved to extend a contract to outsource the state's computer operations and sought to fund transportation improvements from asset sales, including a proposal to auction off liquor stores operated by the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. He was barred by the Virginia Constitution from seeking a second consecutive term.
On January 21, 2014, McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, were indicted on federal corruption charges for receiving improper gifts and loans from a Virginia businessman. They were convicted on most counts by a federal jury on September 4, 2014. On June 27, 2016, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously overturned McDonnell's conviction. Less than three months later, the Justice Department announced that it would not prosecute the case again and moved to dismiss the charges against the McDonnells. As of 2017, McDonnell served as a professor at Regent University and ran the McDonnell Group, a real estate consulting firm, with his sister.
Early life and education McDonnell was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Emma B. Meta (née Meiller) and John Francis McDonnell. He spent four years of his early childhood in Germany when his father, a United States Air Force officer, was sent out on assignment. After moving to Virginia, the McDonnells resided in Fairfax County. McDonnell's mother worked at Mount Vernon. McDonnell graduated from Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1972.
McDonnell attended the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, on an ROTC scholarship, graduating with a BBA in management in 1976. Immediately following graduation, he served as a medical supply officer in the United States Army for four years. He served in medical clinics in Germany from 1976 to 1979 and in Newport News, Virginia from 1979 to 1981. In addition, he took night classes and received an MS in business administration from Boston University in 1980.
McDonnell obtained an M.A./J.D. from Christian Broadcasting Network University (later known as Regent University) in 1989. During his studies, McDonnell interned under Congressman Jerry Lewis (R-California).
House of Delegates (1992–2006) McDonnell was first elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1991, defeating Democratic incumbent Glenn McClanan 53%–47%. He won re-election in 1993 against Thomas Carnes 64%–36%, and was unopposed in 1995, 1997, 2001, and 2003, serving seven terms. The 1999 election against the extremely popular challenger, Sheriff Frank Drew was then the most expensive State Delegate campaign in the history of Virginia. The combined cost of over $985,000 crushed previous records. He represented the 84th district in Virginia Beach. Under the 1998–2001 power-sharing arrangement between House Republicans and Democrats, he was Co-Chair of the Committee on the Chesapeake and its Tributaries in 2000–01. He became Chair of the Courts of Justice Committee in 2003. He also served on the Rules Committee 2000–05, and was Assistant Majority Leader.
Attorney General (2006–2009)
In 2005, McDonnell ran for attorney general. He campaigned on issues including protecting children from sexual predators, drug enforcement, identity theft, gang violence, and terrorism. The first result showed him with a victory of 323 votes, out of over 1.9 million votes cast, over his opponent, Democratic State Senator Creigh Deeds. Deeds filed for a recount, which began on December 20, 2005. A court decision limited the recount to just recompiling vote totals instead of examining individual optically scanned ballots. After preliminary figures revealed 37 more votes for McDonnell and that Deeds could not make up the difference, he conceded the next day, giving McDonnell a 323-vote margin of victory. McDonnell outspent Deeds in the general election by nearly $1 million.
McDonnell was inaugurated on January 14, 2006 in Williamsburg, along with Democratic Governor Tim Kaine and Republican Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling.
Tenure In 2007, McDonnell "played a key role in early negotiations" on the transportation package that was the key issue of contention in the General Assembly. However, subsequently the package was declared unconstitutional based on a challenge filed by a Republican state senator.
Prior to a performance of the Sex Workers' Art Show at the College of William and Mary in 2008, McDonnell forbade the sale of the group's books on school grounds. McDonnell took the side of defecting Northern Virginia Episcopalians in a property lawsuit over the right of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia to retain church property.
In February 2009, McDonnell resigned as attorney general to campaign full-time for the governorship of Virginia in the 2009 election.
2009 campaign for governor
McDonnell announced his candidacy for the 2009 Virginia gubernatorial election at American Legion's Boy's State of Virginia 2007, making him the seventh consecutive elected attorney general to run. The statewide candidates, including McDonnell as governor, were selected at a Republican State convention rather than a primary.
In early June, Democratic nominee Creigh Deeds held a slight edge over McDonnell, with a 47%–41% advantage in a Rasmussen poll. As the campaign continued, the polls shifted toward McDonnell's favor, with several giving him a commanding lead.
However, when The Washington Post released McDonnell's thesis from Regent University, McDonnell's lead dwindled to only two percentage points in Rasmussen polling. As the election drew near, McDonnell's campaign regained steam, however. McDonnell defeated Deeds in the general election by a vote of 59%–41%, receiving the highest percentage of the vote for any candidate for governor since 1961. At the same time, the other two statewide offices on the ballot were also won by Republicans.
Issues
In a political and economic climate marked by the late-2000s recession, McDonnell promised that his priority as governor was employment for Virginians, with such campaign slogans as, "Bob's for Jobs". He supported right-to-work laws, low operating cost of government and a simplified tax code. Having lived in various parts of the state, his road-side billboard varied with geographic location, describing him as "Tidewater's Own", "Northern Virginia's Own", and "Fairfax's Own".
The McDonnell campaign strategy was cast as focusing on economic issues, transportation, and public safety. McDonnell's proposals included new job initiatives, boosting Virginia's tourism, hospitality, and film industries, making Wallops Island the top commercial spaceport in America, and expanding growth in rural Virginia.
McDonnell proposed measures to move $480 million per year from school administration, and put it directly into classrooms; establish more specialized high schools to support high-demand industries; increase online learning through virtual schools; and support educational mentoring programs. McDonnell frequently expressed his support for President Barack Obama's ideas on increasing parental choice through charter schools.
Abortion Identifying as anti-abortion, McDonnell campaigned as an opponent of elective abortion. He did not favor standard exceptions on abortion in cases of rape and incest. As a state legislator, he had been the lead sponsor for legislation to ban partial birth abortions, as well as for legislation requiring parental consent for minors' abortions, and informed consent for women seeking abortions.
Energy McDonnell advocated making Virginia the energy capital of the East Coast. He supported drilling for oil off of the coast of Virginia while simultaneously developing new technologies for wind, solar, biomass, and other renewable energy resources. He also intended to expand investments in renewable energy sources and incentivize green job creation.
Gun rights McDonnell campaigned as a gun rights advocate. He was endorsed by the NRA Political Victory Fund."NRA endorses McDonnell for Va. governor". The Washington Times. September 14, 2009.
Gay rights McDonnell opposed same-sex marriage. He advocated a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman.
Marijuana McDonnell opposed legalizing marijuana. He later signed a bill that criminalized the use of synthetic cannabis. It was approved unanimously in both the house and the senate by both political parties.
Transportation McDonnell's campaign also turned to transportation, a major issue in heavily congested areas of Virginia, advocating issuing $3 billion in transportation bonds that had been approved by the Virginia General Assembly in 2007, but not funded with a revenue source, modernizing the Virginia Department of Transportation, and encouraging public-private partnerships to improve infrastructure.
Transparency McDonnell criticized Governor Tim Kaine for not disclosing his full schedule, and for making out-of-state political appearances as Chair of the Democratic National Committee. McDonnell stated, "The citizens must be certain that the governor is attending to the duties for which he was elected. The governor is Virginia's chief executive, and represents the commonwealth at all times." However, in March 2010, McDonnell received similar criticism for disclosing very few meetings or political appearances on his publicly released schedule.
Thesis McDonnell's 1989 thesis for Regent University was a 93-page document titled The Republican Party's Vision for the Family: The Compelling Issue of The Decade. The document explored the rise in the numbers of divorces and illegitimate births, and examined public policies that may have contributed to that increase and proposed solutions. It gained attention in the campaign because it outlined a 15-point conservative agenda, including 10 points McDonnell pursued during his years in the General Assembly, according to press analysis."'89 Thesis A Different Side of McDonnell: Va. GOP Candidate Wrote on Women, Marriage and Gays" by Amy Gardner, The Washington Post, August 30, 2009. Retrieved 8/30/09.
The agenda included opposition to abortion, support for school vouchers and covenant marriage, and tax policies that favored heterosexual families. In his thesis, McDonnell wrote "government policy should favor married couples over 'cohabitators, homosexuals or fornicators.'" McDonnell "described working women and feminists as 'detrimental' to the family."
McDonnell also "criticized a landmark 1965 Supreme Court decision" which legalized the use of contraceptives, writing that "man's basic nature is inclined towards evil, and when the exercise of liberty takes the shape of pornography, drug abuse, or homosexuality, the government must restrain, punish, and deter."
McDonnell responded to the article, stating "Virginians will judge me on my 18-year record as a legislator and attorney general and the specific plans I have laid out for our future – not on a decades-old academic paper I wrote as a student during the Reagan era and haven't thought about in years."