For my inaugural post, I am excited to share my announcement to run for Lt. Governor of Virginia in 2013. I am honored to have the support of my family, friends, and colleagues who encouraged me to seek this office.
You can read my full announcement statement here
I am hopeful this blog can serve as a platform to share ideas and start conversations about what we can do to create a more open and collaborative government that works to create opportunities and improve the lives of all Virginians.
In this era of open government, I find it important to provide access to my campaign information. For those in Virginia familiar with our lion for open government on candidate data, here’s my list of donors at the Virginia Public Access Project (http://www.vpap.org/committees/profile/money_in_donors/3746); or for those wishing to access both our data in machine-readable form, please visit our Github site – for contributions (https://gist.github.com/3099219) and expenditures (https://gist.github.com/3099212).
Thank you for your support and for taking the time to read my first Tumblr post. Please encourage your family and friends to connect with us on Facebook (facebook.com/apchopra), Twitter (@aneeshchopra), Tumblr (aneeshchopra.tumblr.com), or simply visit us at www.chopraforva.com.
Onward!
If you haven’t yet checked out Aneesh Chopra, Secretary of Technology under Gov. Tim Kaine, the first Chief Technology Officer of the United States, and now candidate for the Democratic nomination for Virginia Lieutenant Governor in 2013, you should.
He’s easily the most exciting candidate in state politics anywhere right now, and possibly the most innovative and forward-thinking politician Virginia’s seen in a long time.
![ryanoshea: Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, first Congressperson to officially describe her religion as “none,” is sworn in not on the Bible, but on the document she’s actually supposed to be protecting and upholding—the Constitution. Edit: She’s also the first openly bisexual Congressperson. (via eyesdriftskyward)
[Fun fact: James Madison remains the only president to take his oath of office on a book of laws, rather than the Bible.]
Kyrsten Sinema’s wonderful, but that “fun fact” is super wrong. According to his letters, John Quincy Adams was sworn in with his hand on a constitutional law volume. There is actually no concrete evidence that a Bible was used to swear in Presidents John Adams through John Tyler. And in the hasty oaths of office following the assassinations of the presidents they succeeded, Theodore Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson were not sworn in on Bibles, either (Johnson was sworn in on a Catholic missal from Kennedy’s bedroom in Air Force One).
In fact, after President Obama’s messy first oath of office, the 25-second do-over in the Map Room included no Bible.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/9b6d207f93f713ae83b241cad01ce0a4/tumblr_mgc1ancffa1qbxlcko1_500.jpg)
