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16 unusual facts about Governor of Virginia


Dudley Digges

Digges's son Edward was among the "planters," who emigrated in the 1640s and became Governor of Virginia.

Edmund Jenings

title= Colonial Governor of Virginia

They were parents of Edmund Jenings Randolph, who was Governor of Virginia and the first Attorney General of the United States under George Washington.

Governor of Virginia

Since 1851, Virginia's gubernatorial elections have been held in "off-years"—years in which there are no national (presidential, senatorial, or House) elections; Virginia's gubernatorial elections are held one year after U.S. presidential elections (2001, 2005, 2009, etc.).

(Most states hold gubernatorial elections either on presidential-election years or midterm-election years, when there are congressional elections.)

Edward Maria Wingfield was the first President of the Council in residence, making him the first to exercise the actual authority of governing Virginia.

James B. Terrill

Virginia Governor Henry A. Wise appointed Terrill a major of cavalry in the state militia in 1859.

James Moran, Sr.

His youngest son, Brian J. Moran, born in 1959, was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1996 until 2008 and was a candidate for Governor of Virginia in the 2009 elections, losing in the Democratic primary.

Jeannie Baliles

She is the former wife of Gerald L. Baliles, the 65th Governor of Virginia, and served as First Lady of Virginia from 1986 to 1990.

Mary Lou Forbes

Werner covered the "massive resistance" program of opposition to school integration that had been undertaken by U.S. Senator Harry F. Byrd and followed by Governor of Virginia James Lindsay Almond, Jr., who had proclaimed in his 1958 inaugural address that "integration anywhere means destruction everywhere".

Richard Townley

He emigrated to Virginia in the suite of Lord Effingham, Governor of Virginia in 1683.

Rudolph McCollum Jr.

After a three-year stint as Vice-Mayor, it was announced in late 2001 that he would replace the outgoing Mayor, Tim Kaine, who was elected Lieutenant Governor in the November general election.

Opting to run for a second term, McCollum received an extremely low percentage of the vote, losing to former-governor L. Douglas Wilder by a margin of over 60 percent.

Stanley plan

The legislative program was named for Governor Thomas B. Stanley, who proposed the program and successfully pushed for its enactment.

Tai Collins

Collins gained considerable notoriety after alleging in 1991 that she and then-U.S. Senator Chuck Robb had carried on an eighteen-month sexual affair while Robb was Governor of Virginia.

The Ballad of Mark Warner

"The Ballad of Mark Warner" is a bluegrass song written and performed by The Bluegrass Brothers in 2001 for the gubernatorial campaign of Mark Warner.


2006 State of the Union Address

Newly elected Governor of Virginia Tim Kaine gave the Democratic response in English and Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa did so in Spanish.

Army of the Kanawha

Confederate units in the vital Kanawha River valley of western Virginia were styled the "Army of the Kanawha" after they were put under the command of former Virginia governor Henry A. Wise on June 6, 1861.

Benjamin Harrison Memorial Bridge

It is named after Benjamin Harrison V, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a Governor of Virginia, who lived nearby at Berkeley Plantation.

Harrison family of Virginia

Nearby along Virginia State Route 5 and the Virginia Capital Trail, the Benjamin Harrison Memorial Bridge, a major drawbridge across the James River, is named in honor of Benjamin Harrison V, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and Governor of Virginia.

Jefferson County, West Virginia

Among those attending the Brown execution was a contingent of 1500 cadets from Virginia Military Institute sent by the Governor of Virginia Henry A. Wise under the supervision of Major William Gilham and Major Thomas J. Jackson.

Mid-Atlantic United States flood of 2006

Governor Tim Kaine declared a state of emergency for the entire Commonwealth of Virginia.

Novelty lighter

The Virginia Legislature recently passed legislation to ban novelty lighters, and is waiting for Virginia Governor Tim Kaine to sign the bill.

Patrick Henry County, Virginia

It was named in honor of Virginia patriot, Patrick Henry, who was serving as the first Governor of Virginia following the Declaration of Independence at the time.

Richard Evelyn Byrd, Sr.

One of his sons, Richard, became famous as a naval aviator who led an expedition to the South Pole; another, Harry, would serve as Governor of Virginia and in the United States Senate.

Ward Armstrong

Armstrong considered running for Governor, Lieutenant Governor or Attorney General in the 2013 elections but decided not to.