After months of rumors and speculation? Republican former Speaker Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights) has announced his intention to run for governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Cox brings some serious firepower to the gubernatorial race, only as a former public school teachers but as a long-standing member of the Virginia House of Delegates known for his ability as both a disciplinarian and a get-things-done attitude.
The powerful new video launched under embargo this week nearly overlapped with Democratic Governor Ralph Northam’s new lockdown restrictions limiting gatherings to just 25 people in time for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
“I am running for Governor because I cannot watch the Virginia we’ve built slip away,” Cox stated, “The timeless principles upon which our representative democracy were built are under attack, unchecked one-party Democratic control in Richmond is tearing our state apart, and people feel like their leaders are not listening. We have to fight back against the cancel culture and the elitism, against misguided collectivist policies, and a worldview that puts the government in charge of every facet of our lives.”
Cox was clear that his impulse was not merely reactionary.
“We are not just fighting back for the sake of it,” said Cox. “We are fighting back so we can lead forward out of this pandemic and a self-inflicted recession, lead forward to an economy where people can do more than just pay the bills, back to a place where problems are solved through dialogue and communication, and lead forward to a Virginia that is the best place to do business, where our kids leave school with an affordable degree or a valuable credential, and where people in government do what they say they’re going to do.”
The video which has caught the attention of many Republicans outside of Virginia as the first salvo against a near-crippled and weak Democratic Party which blew over $700 million failing to take six U.S. Senate races and as many state legislatures in a defunct blue wave.
Highlighting his background in coaching, Cox emphasizes his determination to fight back against one-party Democrat control and today’s toxic cancel culture, saying,
“I don’t care if it’s two outs in the bottom of the ninth with two strikes — I don’t quit.”
Kirk Cox is the first serious Republican contender for the GOP gubernatorial nod in a field that will undoubtedly be crowded. State Senator Amanda Chase, an independent from Chesterfield unceremoniously booted from the Chesterfield GOP and the Senate Republican Caucus after a handful of scandals involving the misuse and abuse of law enforcement personnel — continues to be plagued with mishaps involving alt-right and openly racist organizations and volunteers.
Meanwhile, Kirk Cox’s lifetime A rating with the National Rifle Association isn’t a passing concern, with Cox shutting down a slate of gun grabbing legislation in the 2019 session as speaker in the wake of the Virginia Beach shooting.
Additionally, in what remains one of the most unique and more moving stands on behalf of generations yet to be born, Kirk Cox actually stepped down from the Speaker’s dias to deliver a powerful and moving pro-life speech from the House floor in response to Governor Northam’s horrific comments describing the process of infanticide.
Given the statewide drought Republicans have experience with statewide elections and after coming so tantalizingly close to victory with Gillespie’s 2014 run, Kirk Cox has the ability to make a serious case for victory in the general election — and undoubtedly will not be the only one to make such as case as we march towards the November elections.