Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling are the two latest high-profile Republicans to publicly back independent Henrico County commonwealth's attorney candidate Bill Janis over GOP nominee Matthew P. Geary.
Janis, a defense attorney and retiring Republican state delegate from Henrico, opted to run as an independent after Geary lost favor with the county's Republican Party as details of an extramarital affair surfaced.
Bolling and Cuccinelli on Friday held a joint news conference with Janis, the House majority whip, at the General Assembly Building to voice their support.
Cuccinelli, a Prince William County resident, said that a commonwealth's attorney needed to have good judgment, adding that "character informs that judgment."
Calling commonwealth's attorneys the "filter of the justice system," Cuccinelli added, "I have a substantially greater deal of faith in Bill Janis' ability to make those decisions than I do anyone else in this race, and that is without regard to party label."
Cuccinelli said political affiliation has little to do with decisions made by local leaders, nor should it get in the way of selecting, or endorsing, the best candidate in a race.
"I'm a Republican because I fit better there, but it's not the reason for my being, politically," he said.
Bolling called Janis "a man of great character and integrity" and "a very effective lawyer and passionate defender of the things he believes in."
He conceded that it was unusual to take a side in a local race, but as a resident of neighboring Hanover County with a business in Henrico, Bolling said he felt compelled to support Janis.
"These are very important positions. It is important that we have people of experience and character and judgment in these positions, people we have confidence in," Bolling said.
"We all know the issues that have arisen with respect to the individual who filed to run as a Republican. Our being here today is not an effort to speak against any candidate; it's an effort to speak for Bill Janis," he added.
Geary, a former chief deputy commonwealth's attorney in Richmond, could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.
Democratic candidate Shannon L. Taylor, a former Richmond city prosecutor, dismissed the endorsements, pointing indirectly to Janis' lack of experience as a prosecutor.
"Like the citizens of Henrico, I'm not really interested in the latest political gamesmanship," she said. "This is a race that is about an experienced prosecutor, not necessarily an experienced politician."
Janis, who handles mostly DWI and traffic cases, as well as civil suits, said he prosecuted general district court cases in Albemarle County as a third-year law student.
Flanked by Bolling and Cuccinelli, Janis said he was humbled by their support.
"We got into this rather late and we've got a lot of ground to cover in a very short period of time," he said.
"Having the trust and confidence of both the lieutenant governor and the attorney general as we go forward is going to be a real shot in the arm for us."
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