State Del. Kirk Cox is a familiar face in Richmond and a supporter of former President Donald Trump. A month out from a party convention that will decide the Virginia gubernatorial nominee, Cox is showing that the two aren’t necessarily in tension.
The Colonial Heights lawmaker is the most politically experienced candidate in the pool of GOP candidates running for the commonwealth’s governor this cycle. Cox is a 30-year incumbent in Virginia’s House of Delegates who worked his way through the party’s leadership ranks as the majority whip and then the majority leader. Cox was the speaker from January 2018 to January 2020 before Democrats became the chamber’s majority party.
Cox faces a crowded field for the Republican nomination at the May 8 convention. His opponents are largely outsiders touting either business credentials or support from grassroots conservatives. Cox, though, does not think his time in office will be a drag on his campaign.
“I think people see me as the proven conservative. That’s important, whether it be on the life issue, the Second Amendment, free speech, the whole ‘cancel culture’ issue,” Cox told the Washington Examiner. “When I was speaker, we had the second-largest tax cut in Virginia’s history. I think the other thing people are reacting to is I come from a very Democratic district. It’s only 46% Republican. It’s 30% minority. And I won it by 4 points.”
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Cox, who was a middle and high school teacher in Petersburg and Prince George County for three decades, got his political start working on the 1984 President Ronald Reagan reelection campaign. Several years later, he ran a successful bid for the House of Delegates.
Now, he’s the front-runner for the 2021 Republican gubernatorial nomination, according to a recent Republican Standard poll. It showed Cox winning handily in an eight-candidate primary, 39% to 31% for wealthy businessman Pete Snyder. Former hedge fund executive Glenn Youngkin finished third in a primary-preference poll with 14%, followed by state Sen. Amanda Chase with 10%.
However, the Virginia Republican Party is choosing its gubernatorial nominee in a convention form, conducted by activists around the state due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the unassembled convention, delegates will go to designated sites across Virginia and cast their ballots. In a convention, Cox’s lead narrows significantly, 25% to 24% for Youngkin and 22% for Snyder. Chase finished last in that survey,
The unassembled convention is fairly new to the Republican Party of Virginia. And any type of convention, rather than a primary, risks nominating a candidate perceived as too conservative by the Virginia electorate, which has steadily drifted left in recent years. Democrats now have full control of the state’s government, and former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe is trying for a comeback after his 2014-2018 tenure in office. Virginia is the only state that restricts governors to a single term at a time.
“Obviously, the process took a long time to unfold,” Cox said. “We have 37 locations of an unassembled convention. So that’s going to give most people a chance to vote somewhere near their locality. And that’s much better than having to go to one location, like Lynchburg at Liberty.”
But Cox, 63, said his name recognition after three decades in office would be a big help.
“It’s ranked-choice voting. I like that. So, obviously, you pick your top choices, and so, that allows people to only have to go once. It’s a drive-thru convention, so you’ll drive up, vote once, pick your choices, and then leave. So, that will mean a higher turnout, which I think is a good thing.”
Should Cox prevail at the convention, he could face off against McAuliffe, with whom he frequently sparred in the statehouse. Cox said a main campaign focus would be to highlight Democrats’ current one-party dominance in the state. He is already going after McAuliffe for the former governor’s appointment of a parole board appointment who was later implicated in a scandal involving the release of violent felons.
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“To me, the biggest theme is you’re wanting to fight back against one-party Democrat control. I would be very good at running on what the Democrats have actually done with this state, because we left the state in such good stead with cutting taxes and being the best state to do business,” Cox said, adding he will also campaign against the Virginia Democrats’ energy policy and their refusal to open the public school system during the pandemic.
Additionally, since Virginia Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam signed a raft of laws that overhaul law enforcement across the state, Virginia Republicans, including Cox, will campaign on a law-enforcement-friendly platform.
