Gov. Bob McDonnell will be on hand when Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney visits Virginia next week.
It’s the governor’s second face-to-face with a presidential candidate in recent months. Texas Gov. Rick Perry and McDonnell attended a September fundraiser together in Richmond.
Romney will appear at a grassroots event Wednesday at the Fairfax County Republican Committee headquarters as part of a two-day visit to the state. McDonnell and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, the head of Romney’s Virginia campaign, will join him.
“The governor believes that Gov. Romney is a great candidate with a record of success in both the public and private sectors. He is running an innovative and policy-focused campaign. This joint appearance is about supporting Virginia Republican candidates in the days leading up to the crucially important mid-term legislative elections,” McDonnell spokesman Tucker Martin said.
In a recent interview, both Romney and Perry were said to be courting an endorsement from McDonnell, one of the country’s most popular governors and chairman of the Republican Governors Association. McDonnell has said he will wait until after the Nov. 8 statehouse elections before making a decision on who to back, if he does at all, and previously indicated he prefers a governor for the job.
The event is just one of many campaign appearances McDonnell will make next week to aid Republican legislative candidates. Monday through Wednesday, McDonnell has 10 events on his political schedule, mostly fundraisers.
