James S. Gilmore III



James S. Gilmore III (Jim Gilmore) (1949- ) was the Republican governor of Virginia from 1998 to 2002. He was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2008 congressional elections for the Senate in Virginia, losing to Democrat Mark R. Warner.

Bio
According to the "Jim Gilmore for Senate" site, Gilmore was born in Richmind, the son of a supermarket meat cutter. His mother was a church secretary. After high school, he became the first in his family to attend college and was accepted at the University of Virginia where he elected to study in the field of foreign policy.

After graduation Gilmore volunteered for the U.S. Army, winning honors after completing training at the Army Intelligence School and Defense language Institute. "He was then assigned to the 665th Military Intelligence Group." Gilmore served in Germany during the Vietnam War, speaking German fluently. Gilmore "is the recipient of the Joint Services Commendation Medal for his service to NATO."

When he returned to Virginia, Gimlore enteredthe University of Virginia School of Law and received his degree in 1977. He met Roxane Gatling there and the two were soon married and the parents of two grown sons. Roxane Gilmore, a former school teacher, is a professor at Randolph-Macon College.

Gilmore began practice with a small Richmond law firm, but in 1987 he ran for the office of prosecutor for Henrico county. Four years later Gilmore ran for Attorney General and won. As Attorney General Gilmore investigated Medicaid fraud, government waste, and consumer protection.

Gilmore ran for Governor in 1997, winning with 56 percent of the vote. He was chosen to chair a national commission charged with making recommendations to methods to prevent and respond to terrorist attacks. Gilmore also chaired a Congressional Commission to study Internet Commerce.

He is president of USA Secure, a non-profit think tank on homeland security, a former chairman of the Board of Trustees of the U.S. Air Force Academy, and a former chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Gilmore is also President & CEO of the Free Congress Foundation in Alexandria, Virginia.


 * Director, Barr Pharmaceuticals
 * Governor's Honorary Advisory Council, Council for America's First Freedom

Explored presidential bid
In January 2007, Gilmore formed an exploratory committee to examine a bid for the U.S. presidency in 2008. On July 14, 2007, Gilmore "ended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination ..., saying he didn’t put in the years of preparing for the race that was necessary."

Gilmore "[cast] himself as a fiscal conservative with executive experience and national security credentials."

Gilmore's "never-give-up style attracted the attention of President [George W.] Bush, who made him chairman of the Republican National Committee for a year in January 2001. Before the Sept. 11 attacks, Gilmore chaired a national commission on terrorism, warning that the nation was not ready for attacks.

"But Gilmore's tenure in the RNC was rocky as he feuded with some of Bush's top advisers. And Democrats and some Republicans blamed his tax cut fervor for the state's financial difficulties in the years after he left office."

Lost 2008 Senate race
On November 19, 2007, Gilmore announced his candidacy to replace retiring Sen. John Warner (R-Va.). The announcement set up a campaign with another former Virginia governor, Mark R. Warner (D). Gilmore made the announcement in a video emailed to 5,000 supporters and reporters. The viedo was also posted on YouTube and announced in 70,000 letters mailed to supporters on November 16. In an interview Gilmore said he would stress his military and national security background against Mark Warner. "This is going to be a campaign about national security, about transportation, about education and about illegal immigration. We don't have to outspend mark Warner to defeat Mark Warner," Gilmore said.

Through a special GOP party convention, Gilmore won the Republican nomination but lost to Mark R. Warner (D) in the November 2008 election. The previous Senator, John Warner, was retiring.

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Jim Gilmore on Facebook Jim Gilmore on MySpace Jim Gilmore on Flickr Jim Gilmore on YouTube Jim Gilmore on Twitter

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Gilmore Commission
 * Tommy Hopper
 * U.S. presidential election, 2008

External resources

 * 2008 Race Tracker page on Virginia's Senate Race
 * Gilmore's official campaign website

External articles

 * College Republican National Committee website.