Bill Bolling

The race for the Republican nomination for governor is already heating up, more than a year ahead of the actual race.

You may remember that earlier this year Attorney General Ken Cuccinnelli announced plans to run for governor, then followed up by establishing a campaign committee.

This week, his chief rival, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, has made the rounds in western and southern Virginia to burnish his reputation and claim to the GOP nomination. As you may recall, Bolling and current Gov. Bob McDonnell worked out a deal that allowed McDonnell to move from attorney general and run for governor in 2009, while Bolling sat back and ran for re-election as lieutenant governor that year.

On Monday, McDonnell appeared with Bolling in Danville for a campaign event featuring barbecue. (A side note: Bolling regularly holds a “Burgers with Bill” event and he’s held at least one “Biscuits with Bill” event too. Now it’s barbecue. One starts to wonder how many other “B” foods Bolling can conjure up to keep the alliteration going.)

This mailer also showed up in Richmond recently:

Click to enlarge.

And today, Bolling appeared at the Roanoke Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau Annual Meeting at the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center. Bolling spoke for about four minutes to tout the importance of Virginia’s tourist economy, during which he expressed support for the recently launched “Virginia’s Blue Ridge” brand and said this part of the state was his favorite to visit. Bolling was followed on the stage by Maureen McDonnell — who touted the state’s film and wine industries — and author David Baldacci.

– Mason Adams