Last year began, per usual, with politicians swarming the capitol for the kickoff of the General Assembly legislative session. Match each of the following attending personalities with a sordid detail from their past:
1) Former Governor Bob McDonnell
2) Current Governor Terry McAuliffe
3) Delegate Joe Morrissey
4) Senate Minority Leader Dick Saslaw
5) Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment
a) Pleaded guilty to one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
b) Lost more than $600,000 in campaign cash to an unscrupulous former treasurer.
c) Found guilty on multiple federal corruption charges, including failure to report a variety of gifts.
d) Unsuccessfully blackmailed by a former legal client over an extramarital affair he had with a lobbyist.
e) Once left his wife and newborn baby in the back of a limo while he attended a fundraiser.
6) During its winter session, the state Senate voted to ban which of the following?
a) All gifts from lobbyists with business before the Assembly.
b) The use of taxpayer money for conferences or meetings with agendas hidden from public view.
c) Semi-automatic assault weapons.
d) Pet monkeys.
7) In March, the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) had to cancel a high- profile fundraiser when the featured speaker, South Carolina Representative Trey Gowdy, objected to the event’s name. What was it?
a) Playing the Trump Card
b) Reinforcing the Glass Ceiling
c) Beyond Benghazi
d) Operation Wetback
8) The current annual base pay for a member of Virginia’s House of Delegates is officially $17,640. According to a November 2014 accounting by the Daily Press (which factored in all reimbursements and perks but not election fundraising) what is the actual annual salary range?
a) $20,515 to $28,905
b) $32,453 to $41,787
c) $44,520 to $66,421
d) $72,110 to $125,550
9) In December, Attorney General Mark Herring caused a firestorm when he ruled the commonwealth would no longer recognize concealed-handgun permits from 25 states. How many existing Virginia laws did he nullify with this action?
a) 10
b) 7
c) 2
d) 0
10) The RPV recently proposed that voters in its open presidential primary sign a pledge that reads, “My signature below indicates that I am a Republican.” Which of the following reactions to this idea came from a Democrat?
a) “You’re gonna tell somebody who’s coming into the process that you can’t have a ballot? You’re gonna send them home? Are you insane?”
b) “That’s a real problem for a party that wants to be inclusive instead of exclusive. … We want to have as many people participate as possible, right?”
c) “The pledge—frankly—to me, it inhibits building a broader base for the party.”
d) “R.P. Virginia has lost statewide seven times in a row. Will now not allow desperately needed new voters. Suicidal mistake.”
e) None of the above
Odd Dominion is an unabashedly liberal, twice-monthly op-ed column covering Virginia politics.
Answers: 1-c, 2-e, 3-a, 4-d, 5-b, 6-d, 7-c, 8-c, 9-d, 10-e (source of quotes, in order: conservative radio host John Fredericks, Donald Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandow-ski, Prince William Delegate Bob Marshall, presidential candidate Donald Trump)