Honesty and integrity aren't adjectives that come to mind with most politicians. But there are a few and Ken Cuccinelli, Attorney General of Virginia, is one of them. Father of seven and husband of home schooling mom, Teiro, Ken brings hope for positive change, unlike those who talk about change and bring destruction. Here's a great snapshot of Ken from the "ultimate insider," his wife Teiro.
Dear Friends,
For the first few years of our marriage, Ken was politically active every year, helping Republican candidates throughout the state in any way he could.
My little window into the world of politics (from before we were married) had a rather negative perspective at the time, so I wanted to keep everything political at arms length. I am ashamed to say that I went so far as to tell Ken, "You can help other candidates, but don't ever think about running for office, because I have no interest in being a political wife!"
Ken has always been extremely respectful of my wishes. He continued to help other candidates, never showing any interest in running for office, and never bringing up the possibility of running for office.
However, over the course of the next few years, I learned that God's will for us can sometimes be found in that which motivates and energizes us.
Well, politics motivated Ken. He read the writings of the founding fathers. He memorized The Constitution and American history. He lived and breathed both Virginia and national politics. He lost sleep while he rolled political subjects over in his mind.
As my own faith increased, so did my understanding that God might have a plan for Ken in the political world. I began to see that if God did have a plan, the only obstacle in the way was me! That epiphany rocked my comfortable world. I did not share this realization with Ken until one day after a memorable trip to the grocery store.
In the spring of 1999, I returned from grocery shopping and proudly informed Ken that I had signed a petition for a Republican to be placed on the ballot for the upcoming election. From my perspective, I had finally taken a big step. By signing that petition, I felt that I had jumped in up to my big toe and become politically active! I was quite proud of myself.
Ken asked, "Whose petition did you sign?"
"His name was Warren Barry!" I responded.
Ken, knowing that I considered myself to be very pro-life, proceeded to explain to me that State Senator Warren Barry was one of the primary obstacles to getting any meaningful pro-life legislation passed in the Virginia State Senate. (I learned later that the tactic of most Republican state senators was to "table" all pro-life legislation in committee so they never had to vote on pro-life bills on the Senate Floor and thus be accountable for pro-abortion votes.)
Well, I thought, someone has to run against this guy, and I'm certainly not up to the task!
"Why don't you run against him?" I suggested.
Little did I realize the power of these six words!
Ken's jaw almost dropped to the floor and his eyes bugged out farther than humanly possible! I don't remember if he spoke, but I do remember that he ran for the phone, trying to find out if he could still get on the ballot. But, unfortunately, he had missed the petition deadline by a couple of hours.
However, the day after Republican Warren Barry endorsed Democrat Mark Warner for Governor two years later, Ken announced he would challenge Barry in the next election. Thus began Ken's first campaign for the Virginia State Senate.
After Warren Barry stepped down from the state senate seat to take a position with the Warner Administration, Ken ended up winning the seat in a special election on August 6th, 2002.
And the rest is history!
Sincerely,
Teiro Cuccinelli
You can follow Ken at the
Cuccinelli Compass and I hope you'll "like" him on Facebook.
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