Jerry Walter Kilgore (born August 23, 1961) is an American attorney, politician and member of the Republican Party. He served as the

Attorney General of Virginia The attorney general of Virginia is an elected constitutional position that holds an executive office in the government of Virginia. Attorneys general are elected for a four-year term in the year following a presidential election. There are no ter ...

from 2002 to 2005 and was the Republican nominee for

Governor of Virginia The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia serves as the head of government of Virginia for a four-year term. The incumbent, Glenn Youngkin, was sworn in on January 15, 2022. Oath of office On inauguration day, the Governor-elect takes th ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, losing to Democratic nominee

Tim Kaine Timothy Michael Kaine (; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 38th lieutenant governor of Virgini ...

. He is a partner with the law firm

Cozen O'Connor Cozen O'Connor P.C. is an international law firm based in Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The firm was ranked 74th on the AmLaw 100 Survey in 2021, 92nd on the Global 200, 1st in the nation in ''The American Lawyer'' in its Midlevel Ass ...

and is a member of the firm's leading State Attorneys General practice in Washington, D.C. He also serves as finance chairman of the

Republican Party of Virginia The Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) is the Virginia chapter of the Republican Party. It is based at the Richard D. Obenshain Center in Richmond. History The party was established in 1854 by opponents of slavery and secession in the commonwea ...

. He was previously a partner at

McGuireWoods McGuireWoods LLP is a US-based international law firm. Their largest offices are in Richmond, Virginia, Charlotte, North Carolina and Chicago, Illinois. History 1800s–1960s McGuireWoods traces its origins to two lawyers, Egbert R. Watson and ...

and a senior advisor with McGuireWoods Consulting in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

Background

Born in

Kingsport, Tennessee Kingsport is a city in Sullivan and Hawkins counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, its population was 55,442. Lying along the Holston River, Kingsport is commonly included in what is known as the Mountain Empire, w ...

on August 23, 1961, Kilgore earned a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree ''summa cum laude'' from Clinch Valley College (now the

University of Virginia's College at Wise The University of Virginia's College at Wise (UVA Wise) is a public liberal arts college in Wise, Virginia. It is part of the University of Virginia and was established in 1954 as Clinch Valley College of the University of Virginia. The United S ...

) in 1983 and a J.D. from the

William & Mary School of Law The William & Mary Law School, known historically as the Marshall-Wythe School of Law, is the professional graduate law school of the College of William & Mary. Located in Williamsburg, Virginia, the school is the oldest extant law school in th ...

in 1986. His twin brother,

Terry Kilgore Terry Gene Kilgore (born August 23, 1961) is an American attorney and politician. A Republican, he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 1993, and became chair of the Commerce and Labor committee in 2008. He graduated with a B.A. fro ...

, has served in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two parts of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

since 1994.

Early career

During 1987 and 1992, Kilgore served as an Assistant

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...

for the Western District of Virginia. He was Secretary of Public Safety under Governor

George Allen George Allen may refer to: Politics and law * George E. Allen (1896–1973), American political operative and one-time head coach of the Cumberland University football team * George Allen (Australian politician) (1800–1877), Mayor of Sydney and ...

from 1994 to 1998 and was elected

in the 2001 Virginia Attorney General election by a wide margin. Kilgore is known for his conservative views on social issues, especially with respect to gun control, religion and abortion. He was critical of Democratic Governor

Mark Warner Mark Robert Warner (born December 15, 1954) is an American businessman and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Virginia, a seat he has held since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Warner served as the 69th governo ...

's fiscal policy, particularly the 2004 budget that included substantial tax increases. Kilgore garnered national attention for his opposition to the

Herndon Herndon may refer to: People * Herndon (surname), an American surname * Herndon Davis (1901–1962), American artist, journalist, illustrator, and painter Places in the United States Communities * Herndon, California, an unincorporated commun ...

day-laborer center and he has traditionally held the view that laws regarding

illegal immigration Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

should be enforced stringently.

2005 gubernatorial campaign

Kilgore resigned as Attorney General in February 2005 to run for Governor (as is the convention in Virginia) and easily won the

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

against Warrenton Mayor George B. Fitch to become the Republican nominee. In the general election, he ran against Democratic nominee

, the

Lieutenant Governor of Virginia The lieutenant governor of Virginia is a constitutional officer of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The lieutenant governor is elected every four years along with the governor and attorney general. The office is currently held by Winsome Earle S ...

, and State Senator

Russ Potts Harry Russell Potts Jr. (March 4, 1939 – December 19, 2021) was an American businessman, journalist, and politician who served as a Republican state senator in Virginia, representing the 27th district from 1992 to 2008. An independent candi ...

, a

pro-choice Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pre ...

Republican who ran as an independent candidate. Early in the race, Kilgore showed solid leads of ten points or more in the polls, but Kaine steadily closed the gap and ultimately defeated Kilgore by a margin of 52% to 46%. Kilgore's campaign was at times criticized for taking steps to avoid debates; Kilgore refused to debate Potts for the majority of the campaign, at times leaving Kaine and Potts to debate each other in his absence. He agreed to debate only with Kaine, and only if the footage could not be aired in campaign commercials. During this debate, he refused to answer whether or not he would make

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

a crime. This apparent public moderation of his previously open and hard-line stance on abortion troubled some of his conservative supporters. He was further criticized for failing to limit his negative advertisements to 50% of his campaign's total publicity as Kaine proposed. One such advertisement featured a father whose son had been murdered by a man who was on Virginia's

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting Capital punishment, execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of ...

; the father expressed doubt that the sentence would be carried out if Kaine were elected and alleged that Kaine would not even have authorized the execution of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

, based on an interview with the

Richmond Times-Dispatch The ''Richmond Times-Dispatch'' (''RTD'' or ''TD'' for short) is the primary daily newspaper in Richmond, Virginia, Richmond, the capital of Virginia, and the primary newspaper of record for the state of Virginia. Circulation The ''Times-Dispatc ...

. The negative reaction to the mention of Hitler combined with Kaine's pledge to carry out the death penalty and explanation of his personal opposition as arising from his

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

faith helped to neutralize what many observers thought would've been a potent issue for Kilgore. In trying to explain how a solid Republican could lose a traditionally Republican state by such a large margin, political commentators cited numerous key factors. Kaine's campaign had many political advantages, including his association with the state's popular Democratic Governor

and defense of Warner's 2004 budget priorities, his "response ads" to Kilgore's death penalty advertisements, which featured him speaking to voters about his religious convictions, his relentless in-person campaigning across the state, and his opposition to tax increases. In contrast, Kilgore's campaign had many political disadvantages, including a backlash over the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

ads that Kilgore's campaign ran in the fall, the relatively low poll numbers of then-President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

at the time the election, and a bitter division between the moderate and conservative wings of the Republican party over tax and spending priorities.

Electoral history

References

They'll kill for this job
– '' Staunton News-Leader'' — October 19, 2005
Death penalty attack is a vile political tactic
– ''

Bristol Herald Courier The ''Bristol Herald Courier'' is a 39,000 circulation daily newspaper owned by Lee Enterprises. The newspaper is located in Bristol, Virginia, a small city located in Southwest Virginia on the Tennessee border. The ''Herald Courier'' is in wh ...

'' — October 14, 2005
Death penalty demagoguery
– ''

The Roanoke Times ''The Roanoke Times'' is the primary newspaper in Southwestern Virginia and is based in Roanoke, Virginia, United States. It is published by Lee Enterprises. In addition to its headquarters in Roanoke, it maintains a bureau in Christiansburg, ...

'' — October 13, 2005
Jerry Kilgore's shrinking low profile
– ''

'' — October 6, 2005
Ad Watch: Kilgore's gas tax claim in new ad is unfounded
– ''

The Virginian-Pilot ''The Virginian-Pilot'' is the daily newspaper for Norfolk, Virginia. Commonly known as ''The Pilot'', it is Virginia's largest daily. It serves the five cities of South Hampton Roads as well as several smaller towns across southeast Virginia ...

'' — September 30, 2005 * Schapiro, Jeff E
Kilgore refuses to debate Potts
– ''

'' — June 16, 2005. * Branigin, William
Kaine Defeats Kilgore in Va. Gubernatorial Race
Washington Post, Nov. 8, 2005. , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kilgore, Jerry 1961 births Living people People from Kingsport, Tennessee Virginia Republicans William & Mary Law School alumni Virginia Attorneys General Virginia lawyers Politicians from Richmond, Virginia State cabinet secretaries of Virginia American twins Identical twins Candidates in the 2005 United States elections 20th-century American lawyers Assistant United States Attorneys 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians