Cuccinelli sent a letter last November to Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Herring appointing him to review McDonnell’s statements of economic interest, on which state officials are required to disclose gifts and investments.

Cuccinelli himself neglected to disclose gifts from Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams, whose company is disputing a $1.7 million tax bill from the state, as well as his investments in the company, including one made after Star sued the state.

Del. Kathy Byron, R-Campbell County, is among the latest politicians to recollect a gift that needed to be declared in their annual conflict of interests form – in her case, a $7,800 trip to Taiwan, courtesy of that nation’s government.

Earlier this year, of course, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli had to revise his declaration to take account of two stays at Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams’ Smith Mountain Lake mansion, one of them several months after Star sued the state, seeking to overturn a $1.7 million tax bill, as well as a flight to New York on Williams. And Gov. Bob McDonnell has argued a $15,000 check from Williams for catering at McDonnell’s daughter’s wedding wasn’t really a gift to him.

Virginia law requires disclosure of gifts and investments (including those in Star Scientific stock that Cuccinelli also initially forget to report) so that citizens can weigh whether there’s a risk that officials might have conflicts of interests. Other states set limits on who can give how much to a public official (or to their campaign funds, for that matter).

Anyway, Blue Ridge Caucus got curious about exactly what big gifts (we used a $500 threshold) our legislators got. Here’s the rundown:

Del. Kathy Byron, R-Campbell, $7,800 for that trip to Taiwan, plus $1,120 from the American Legislative Exchange Council, a conservative advocacy group, to attend a technology meeting and $996 from Dominion Resources for lodging at last year’s GOP convention.

Sen. Bill Carrico, R-Grayson County, $4,000 from Taiwan for a trip there, $1,600 from Sea World for a tour and tickets, $1,400 from the National Governors Association to tour charter schools in New Orleans, $674 from Alpha Natural Resources for a photo and meal.

Sen Creigh Deeds, D-Bath County, $1,680 from the University of Virginia for a reception at a football game.

Del. Greg Habeeb, R-Salem, $1,972 from the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association to attend its annual meeting in Florida, $736 from the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association to attend its annual meeting at The Greenbrier and $500 worth of Lane Stadium tickets from Virginia Tech.

Del. Chris Head, R-Botetourt County, $602 from the Virginia Coal Association for a trip to learn about coal, railroads and power.

Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County, $939 from Dominion Resources (owner of the state’s biggest power company) to attend a sporting event.

Del. Joseph Yost, R-Blacksburg, $554 from the Virginia Coal Association for a trip to learn about coal, railroads and power.

Be interesting to see some of those thank you notes, wouldn’t it?

Nor are there any notes or memoranda to be found from any conversation he had with Williams. It was just yesterday that he acknowledged Williams had talked to him about Star’s long-running, $1.7 million tax dispute with the state. That happened before Star filed a lawsuit, Cuccinelli said he never took any action and that he never discussed the lawsuit itself. Here‘s that story.

Also, there is no record to be found of any correspondence between Cuccinelli and Gov. Bob McDonnell about Star’s tax woes.

It took a couple of FOIA requests, and a response that an initial, broader request for records would likely cost more than $14,000 with most of any such records likely to be protected by attorney-client privilege. Our latest request took an hour (we helped by sharing Williams’ corporate email address) and took $35 worth of a legal assistant’s time. The Office waived the charge. It did say our request for records that might be held in Cuccinelli’s office about the Star stock he purchased, including after Star sued the state, or with his family about their two stays at Williams’ Smith Mountain Lake home were personal, not public.

Williams gave gifts worth $35,000 to Cuccinelli and McDonnell after their election, while Star made $79,000 of donations to McDonnell’s political action committee after the election.

There’s been no action in Star’s lawsuit seeking to overturn its $1.7 million-and-growing tax bill in nearly two years. The bill dates back 11 years, by the way. The only thing the state has told the court is that Star’s view that the assessment is in error is a matter of a legal opinion to which no response is necessary.

Earlier coverage is here.

The Republican ticket. From left: Mark Obenshain (attorney general), Ken Cuccinelli (governor), E.W. Jackson (lieutenant governor). Photo by Kyle Green, The Roanoke Times.

So, the big news out of the weekend’s Republican convention was the surprise nomination of E.W. Jackson, a Chesapeake attorney and minister, for lieutenant governor. That the party tilted to the right wasn’t a surprise, especially in a convention setting. Any of the other likely GOP candidates would have been pretty conservative, too. But the selection of the little-known Jackson — a Tea Party favorite who topped various Republican office-holders — was the surprise.

I’ve put on my historian’s hat and here are three questions that come to mind:

* What’s the right historical parallel here for Jackson’s nomination? Thrice before, major parties in Virginia have nominated African-Americans for statewide office (although, it should be noted, Jackson disdains that designation.) Is this more analagous to the Democrats fielding Doug Wilder for lieutenant governor in 1985 (let’s set aside his gubernatorial campaign in 1989; by then he was already a statewide office-holder) or the Republicans nominating Maurice Dawkins for the U.S. Senate in 1988?

If those are the only choices, neither quite fits. Dawkins, like Jackson, was little-known to the general public in 1988; but he also was going up against Chuck Robb, at the height of his popularity. We don’t know yet who Jackson’s Democratic opponent will be but, to borrow a phrase, whoever it is, he won’t be any Chuck Robb. In that regard, Jackson might come closer to the Wilder example, who was clearly the weakest of the three Democratic candidates in 1985 but prevailed when his ticket-mates swept into office in what was a good year for his party. One key difference, of course: Wilder was well-known from years of service in the General Assembly, Jackson isn’t. So neither of those parallels are quite parallel, after all.

Two better historical examples might be two white Republican candidates for lieutenant governor — Mike Farris in 1993 and John Hager in 1997. Farris, known as a home-schooling advocate, was the favorite of the GOP convention that year. Democrats successfully portrayed him as too extreme, and he lost in what was otherwise a good year for Republicans (George Allen was elected governor and Jim Gilmore was elected attorney general that year.) Will Democrats be able to make Jackson out as this year’s version of Mike Farris? Or will Jackson be more like Hager? Hager was never considered as far to the right as Jackson apparently is, but he was considered by many to be a weak candidate in 1997, a sure loser to Democrat L.F. Payne, at the time the congressman representing much of Southside Virginia. Except that . . . Gilmore swept to victory as governor, and pulled Hager in with him. Could a big Cuccinelli victory this fall pull in Jackson, too?

Of course, maybe there is no historical parallel. So let’s move on to some other questions:

* Will Jackson’s nomination influence who the Democrats nominate? More to the point, will Democrats now be more inclined to nominate a minority on their ticket — either former technology secretary Aneesh Chopra for lieutenant governor (instead of Norfolk state Sen. Ralph Northam), or former federal prosecutor Justin Fairfax for attorney general (instead of Loudoun County state Sen. Mark Herring)? Given that the Democrats are holding a primary, the short answer is probably “no.” This isn’t a situation where party leaders can get together, figure out a answer, and then send down the word. Primaries don’t work that way; (sometimes conventions don’t, either!). It would be ironic, though, in a historical way if the Republicans wound up nominating a more diverse ticket than the Democrats.

(And since this is the Blue Ridge Caucus blog, let’s make a geographical note, as well: Republicans have nominated a ticket with candidates from Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, and the Shenandoah Valley; Democrats are certain to have two candidates from Northern Virginia — Terry McAuliffe and both of the AG candidates live there; and if Chopra defeats Northam, then all three Democrats could be from just one part of the state.)

And finally:

* Democrats hope that Jackson’s nomination will underscore how out of the mainstream they believe the Republican ticket it — and serve as the deadweight that brings it down. However, could just the opposite happen? Could it be that Jackson helps make his ticket-mates look more moderate? Republicans have shown no interest in distancing themselves from Jackson — although the Washington Post quoted one over the weekend as saying they now had to go research their own candidate to find out just who they had nominated. Perhaps Jackson will turn out to be a fine candidate, one who brings energy and excitement to the ticket in a way Republicans could not have imagined. And there’s always the chance his Democratic opponent, whoever he is, turns out to be a dud. But, for the sake of discussion, let’s assume Jackson doesn’t work out, that voters come to see him as too extreme. Does that necessarily hurt his ticketmates? Mike Farris didn’t appear to drag down George Allen in 1993. Might any contrast actually help Cuccinelli?

– Dwayne Yancey

Besides the candidates, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke County, and Republican party chair Pat Mullins also reminded the Republican-leaning crowd that Virginia could send a strong signal to the rest of the nation by voting for the ticket.

“We want a governor who stands up for Virginia not a governor who stands up for Washington, D.C.,” Mullins said.

Chatting just before boarding his plane to his next stop, Cuccinelli said Virginia’s gubernatorial race, always held the first year after a presidential election is often considered the first test of how a president is doing.

He said he expects that will be on the minds of campaign volunteers in the five months ahead as they work to win votes for their candidates.