The DailyPress.com in an as-yet unconfirmed report says that Ed Gillespie will run for Governor in 2017 after Mark Obenshain declined to run.
Obenshain’s aide, Nick Collette, has confirmed that Obenshain will not run for Governor in 2017. This begs the question, what are Ken Cuccinelli’s plans? He’s everywhere, at every event, seemingly running for something. Will he challenge Gillespie for Governor? Or wait and run for Senate in 2018? And, will First District Congressman Rob Wittman, long rumored to be interested in higher office, throw his hat into the ring?
More news as it emerges.
UPDATE: Sources close to the Gillespie camp have indeed indicated Ed is planning a run for Governor, but has not made any decisions to announce a run. The situation, for now, remains fluid.
It should be noted that Gillespie fully supported Obenshain’s 2013 run for Attorney General, and that the two have remained close since then, including when Obenshain was chief surrogate for Gillespie’s 2014 run for U.S. Senate. As had long been rumored, Gillespie was deferring to Obenshain for the 2017 run, and now that Obenshain has stepped back from that, Gillespie will indeed step up.
Gillespie has been a grassroots dynamo in recent months, criss-crossing the state in support of dozens of candidates for local and General Assembly races, building up appreciable amounts of good will in the process.
Steve Albertson also contributed to this report.
