The American Spectator

Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling (R) has announced that he won’t be running for governor in Virginia. After conceding the Republican gubernatorial nomination to Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli at the end of last year, Bolling hinted that he would launch his own campaign as an independent. As I reported in February, this rift in the Republican Party raised questions about the GOP’s future. Yet Bolling’s announcement today diffused the risk of division that a third-party challenger would bring. Bolling said:

“Running as an Independent candidate would have required me to sever my longstanding relationship with the Republican Party. While I am very concerned about the current direction of the Republican Party, I still have many dear friends in the Republican Party, people who have been incredibly supportive of me over the years. Maintaining their friendship and respect means more to me than the prospects of being Governor and I was unwilling to jeopardize these longstanding relationships by embarking on an Independent campaign.”

Bolling also cited insufficient funds as one challenge which factored into his decision to abandon the election:

“The biggest challenge an Independent candidate faces is fundraising. You can have a winning message, but if you don’t have the resources to effectively communicate that message to voters you cannot win. Based on my discussions with key donors over the past three weeks, I was confident I could raise enough money to run a competitive campaign, but I was not confident I could raise enough money to run a winning campaign.”