Bolling blasts Cuccinelli's push for 2013 convention

Virginia Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling came out strongly Friday against an attempt by newly elected Republican Party officials to hold a convention next year to nominate its candidate for governor, warning it would divide the party and could spark a lawsuit.

Tea Party-backed Republicans who favor the convention – and Bolling’s likely Republican opponent, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli – won about two dozen spots on the Republican Party State Central Committee, the GOP’s governing body, in recent local elections. Already, an effort is underway to switch the 2013 primary election to a convention, which favors conservative candidates like Cuccinelli because it shuts out independent and moderate voters.