Cuccinelli
Walker
RICHMOND, Va. (Legal Newsline) - Virginia Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli is throwing his support behind fellow Republican, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
On Wednesday, Cuccinelli asked backers in a "Cuccinelli Compass" email and Facebook message to support Walker.
Cuccinelli, who has made a name for himself as the state's top lawyer, announced in December that he would run for governor in 2013.
Walker, meanwhile, has received national attention due to his controversial Budget Repair Bill.
The bill, which was passed by the Wisconsin Legislature and later upheld by the state Supreme Court, significantly changed the collective bargaining process for most public employees in the state.
As a result, opponents of the bill launched a push for a recall election, receiving enough support to force an election on June 5 -- a first for a Wisconsin governor.
If unsuccessful in keeping his seat, Walker would be only the third governor to be recalled in U.S. history.
In his message this week, Cuccinelli called the Wisconsin recall the "second most important election" in America in 2012.
The attorney general said of Walker, "In simplest terms, no chief executive (certainly not the President!) has so bluntly and effectively taken on the entire spectrum of pro-big government forces: be they liberals, rich and powerful public unions -- always reinforced by their private union counterparts, and just plain old Democrats.
"And if this results in Gov. Walker losing the recall election in just over two weeks, it will have a terrible chilling effect on politicians in the future taking on our biggest budgetary challenges, e.g., entitlements, pensions, etc."
Cuccinelli said the June 5 election will be a "clash of political forces of titanic proportions" that will affect how, and whether, others in politics will "meaningfully take on our biggest challenges."
"So, I am going to ask you to do something that I've only ever asked twice before in the whole history of 'The Compass.' I want to ask you to donate to a campaign outside of Virginia. I want you to PLEASE donate to Gov. Scott Walker's re-election campaign," he wrote.
"We have a lot of work to do in this country, and we need people with the courage and commitment that Gov. Walker has shown at all levels of government."
At the end of his message, Cuccinelli directs his supporters to a website in which they can donate to Walker's campaign.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by email at jessica@legalnewsline.com.