Jeff Schapiro
As Elizabeth McClanahan tells it, at the Abingdon law firm where she practiced, there was a banged-up metal desk used by a predecessor, Andy Miller. The firm, the former Virginia Supreme Court justice said, would assign the desk to young associates, who were told it had been that of a storied politician.
From that small firm, Miller went to Richmond, where he would build one of Virginiaâs biggest law shops. It wasnât a high-dollar firm. Rather, it was the Office of the Attorney General, which until Millerâs election in 1969, had only a dozen lawyers. Understaffed, it hired private lawyers to advise state agencies even on mundane matters.
Opinion: A familiar face enters Virginia s gubernatorial race - The Virginian-Pilot
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Opinion: A familiar face enters Virginia s gubernatorial race
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BY JEFF E. SCHAPIRO
Richmond Times-Dispatch
When it came to briefing the legislatureâs money committees, no one quite rivaled Stuart Connock in telling them what they wanted to hear â without telling them too much. He would use a lot of technical jargon, allude to âtaxpayer behaviorâ and cite economic data, which he pronounced âdater.â
Connock, as Virginiaâs de facto and actual finance chief in the 1970s and 1980s, was not trying to mislead delegates and senators. Rather, he was intent on preserving his flexibility â and that of the governors, Republican and Democratic, for whom he worked.
By ensuring that maneuverability â and always knowing where he could find a few extra million dollars for the pet programs of governors and legislators â Connock, who died this past Sunday at 95, was among the most powerful state officials Virginians didnât elect.