McDonnell set to get GOP nomination for governor

If there is one certainty about this weekend's state GOP convention, it's this: Virginia Republicans will crown Bob McDonnell as their nominee for governor and the party standard-bearer.

McDonnell is unchallenged for the nomination within his party while Democrats are locked in a three-way battle for the gubernatorial nod.

A former attorney general and state delegate from Virginia Beach, McDonnell is optimistically viewed as a "harbinger of renewal" for the GOP and a candidate capable of reversing some of its recent election disappointments, said Old Dominion University political science professor Jesse Richman.

Less clear is the outcome of the other decisions facing Republicans at the convention.

At the gathering, thousands of party members also will select a state chairman and nominees for lieutenant governor and attorney general from a pool of candidates for each office.

The attorney general candidates are former U.S. Attorney John Brownlee of Roanoke; state Sen. Ken Cuccinelli, R-Fairfax; and former Arlington School Board chairman Dave Foster.

Republicans hope to avoid any fireworks, but some are bracing for a bit of unrest over the chairmanship and lieutenant governor.

It wasn't supposed to be that way.

Party elders worked behind the scenes to create unity at the top of the GOP ticket.

As a result of those discussions, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling agreed to seek re-election instead of pursuing his gubernatorial ambitions.

Then along came Patrick Muldoon, a Southwest Virginia lawyer who argues that he's more conservative than Bolling on issues such as abortion.

"We are definitely bucking the establishment," he said. "This party doesn't belong to the party leaders, and it doesn't even belong to our elected officials. It belongs to the conservative, grass-roots Republicans in Virginia."

The battle for chairman stems from the April ouster of Del. Jeff Frederick, R-Prince William, from that post.

Party officials accused Frederick of embarrassing the GOP and mishandling its finances. He was replaced by Patrick Mullins.

Lawyer Bill Stanley, who represented Frederick during the removal process, now is challenging Mullins for that seat.

Longtime party activist Gary C. Byler, the 2nd Congressional District Republican chairman, predicts that support for Muldoon and Stanley among convention delegates will be minute.

Still, signs of a discord persist.

While many delegates will attend a gala tonight featuring former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, some conservative activists will hold their own banquet a few miles away in downtown Richmond.

Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com